An unruly passenger caused a United Airlines flight to Minnesota to divert to Wisconsin after he attempted to breach the cockpit while the plane was in the air.
On Friday night, Flight UA2005, which had a destination of Minneapolis after leaving from Chicago, was rerouted to Dane County Regional Airport in Madison, Wisc., touching down shortly before 9:30 p.m. according to public air traffic data.
There was just an attempted cockpit breach on United 2005 from Chicago to Minneapolis. The plane diverted to Madison and has landed safely, but all other United flights are being warned to stay vigilant. pic.twitter.com/ejphTmKOcf
— Andrew Leyden (@PenguinSix) May 30, 2026
A United Airlines spokesperson said that the plane had “landed safely in Madison, Wisconsin to address a security concern with an unruly passenger,” according to NBC News.
“There were no reported injuries among the 147 passengers and six crew members on board,” the outlet reported.
“On May 29, 2026, the FBI was notified that a commercial flight traveling from Chicago to Minneapolis was being diverted to Dane County Regional Airport. FBI Milwaukee’s Madison Resident Agency and local law enforcement partners responded immediately. A subject was detained by the Dane County Sheriff’s Office and afterwards passengers resumed their flight,” the FBI said in a statement, according to FOX 6 Milwaukee.
WISN reported that off-duty law enforcement officers were onboard the plane, a Boeing 737-900, citing an unnamed individual who was relaying information between the plane and the control tower responding to a question about whether there were any injuries.
“Don’t think they were able to cuff him but were able to get control of him after multiple attempts to try to breach the cockpit,” the person said. “He is seated in a seat and flanked by law enforcement officers on either side.”
X users weighed in on the incident.
Glad everyone’s safe, props to the passengers and crew for shutting it down quick
— Macro Bombastic (@MacroBombastic) May 30, 2026
Cockpit breach attempt should end in the perpetrator being swiss cheesed, or at least given a multi-man beatdown. We’ve had enough of this shit.
— We hold deez nutz to be self evident (@jstripe75) May 30, 2026
Glad everyone’s safe and the crew/passengers shut it down quick. United’s been having a rough streak with these incidents lately. It’s time for stronger screening, more air marshals, or at least real consequences. Props to whoever tackled the guy mid-flight.
— Keaton Hobby (@RealKeatonHobby) May 30, 2026
This is why I always scan the people before my flight. I look for strong men who might be willing to take someone down in this kind of emergency.
— Lulu (@luluoctober12) May 30, 2026
If Minneapolis was the destination, then we know exactly what kind of person tried to bum-rush the cockpit.
— DAAAAM! (@DriveEmMild) May 30, 2026
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has maintained a “zero tolerance” policy for unruly passengers.
“Behaving dangerously on a plane will cost you; that’s a promise,” Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen said in a 2022 statement. “Unsafe behavior simply does not fly and keeping our Zero Tolerance policy will help us continue making progress to prevent and punish this behavior.”
Additional details on the incident remain vague, including the identity of the disruptive flier.
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