'Unruly behavior' by a passenger forced a Southwest Airlines flight to make an emergency landing

A Southwest Airlines flight from Houston to Columbus had to make an emergency landing in Little Rock on Saturday following a passenger disturbance.

• A Southwest Airlines flight made an emergency landing in Little Rock, Arkansas, on Saturday. 
• A spokesperson told CBS News that the diversion was caused by "unruly behavior from a passenger."
• The flight was heading from Houston, Texas, to Columbus, Ohio.

A Southwest Airlines flight from Houston, Texas, to Columbus, Ohio, had to make an emergency landing on Saturday following a passenger disturbance.

A spokesperson for the airline told CBS News that the crew declared an emergency due to "unruly behavior from a passenger." 

Southwest Flight 192 landed in Little Rock, Arkansas at about 3:30 p.m. on Saturday. The "unruly" passenger was removed from the flight.

The Federal Aviation Authority told CBS News that the passenger, whose has not been named, was met by officers from the Transportation Security Administration, as well as local police.

Potential charges facing the passenger have not yet been revealed and the nature of the disturbance was unclear.

Disruptive passengers are a regular headache for flight crew, with 2021 was the worst year on record for "unruly-passenger incidents", according to the FAA. There were 5,981 such reports, leading to 1,113 investigations, and 350 "enforcement actions."

It was revealed last year that Delta Airlines is seeking to launch a national "no fly" list of banned passengers to reduce incidents of disruptive behavior on its aircraft.

Southwest Airlines, the TSA, and the FAA did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Insider.