An American Airlines flight bound for Ecuador was forced to return to Miami on Saturday evening after the crew declared an in-flight emergency due to a disruptive passenger. Flight AA2259, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, had departed Miami International Airport at 8:12 PM local time, 47 minutes behind schedule, en route to Quito, Ecuador.
According to flight tracking data from Flightradar24, the aircraft climbed to a cruising altitude of 31,000 feet before making a U-turn over Cuba. The plane landed safely on runway 27 at Miami International shortly before 10 PM, just one hour and 40 minutes after departure.
American Airlines confirmed the incident in a statement, saying: 'On Jan. 31, American Airlines flight 2259 with service from Miami (MIA) to Quito, Ecuador (UIO) returned to MIA and was met by law enforcement upon arrival due to a disruptive customer. We thank our team members for their professionalism and our customers for their assistance in managing a difficult situation.'
Passengers were rebooked on a replacement flight to Quito, which landed at 2:50 PM on Sunday. The incident is the latest in a series of unscheduled U-turns this year, following a Lufthansa flight that returned to London in January due to a technical issue.
