Oklahoma City, Dec 10 (AP) A flight from Washington, DC, to Los Angeles was diverted to Oklahoma City after an unruly passenger assaulted a flight attendant, police said.

An air marshal who was on board the Delta Air Lines flight had the passenger in custody when the flight landed Thursday night, Oklahoma City Police Capt. Arthur Gregory told TV station KFOR.

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The flight continued on to Los Angeles after the passenger was removed.

In a statement, Delta praised the “quick action and professionalism” of its crew and air marshals for their handling of the situation.

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Last month, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed US attorneys across the country to prioritise prosecutions of federal crimes that occur on commercial flights amid a historic spike in cases involving unruly passengers.

Federal law prohibits interfering with a flight crew, including assaulting, intimidating or threatening crew members.

The Federal Aviation Association said last month that it had referred 37 cases involving unruly airline passengers to the FBI for possible criminal prosecution since the number of disruptions on flights began to spike in January. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)