Why Was Southwest Flight 5929 Diverted?

A Southwest Airlines flight traveling from Indianapolis to Los Angeles was redirected to Kansas City on Sunday. But why was Southwest Flight 5929 diverted? According to an airport spokesman, reports of three passengers being unruly is what allegedly prompted the plane to stop at Kansas City International Airport. The flight successfully took off from Indianapolis at 7:23 a.m. on Sunday and was diverted at around 7:50 a.m. It's unclear what transpired aboard the flight that would prompt it to have to land there. Southwest Airlines has issued a statement saying that the allegedly unruly passengers aboard the flight were also reportedly exhibiting suspicious behavior. No further details were provided as to what that behavior may have entailed.

The aforementioned passengers were reportedly detained and questioned as police dogs searched the aircraft. Passengers were forced to leave the plane until the search had concluded. No suspicious items were found on the plane, passengers once again boarded, and the flight departed from Kansas City at approximately 9:22 a.m. and landed in Los Angeles at 10:47 a.m. Flight 5929 was originally scheduled to land around 9:15 a.m. According to a statement sent to Los Angeles CW affiliate KTLA, the plane was diverted out of "an abundance of caution."

CBS2 and KCAL9 reporter Jeff Nguyen tweeted cellphone video of a passenger allegedly being escorted off of Southwest Flight 5929. The brief video shows a man being led off the plane by law enforcement. As of this writing, only Nguyen has tweeted the video and its authenticity has yet to be confirmed. Nguyen has been answering questions on Twitter from those seeking more information about the behavior of the three passengers. The journalist has said that the individuals in question are three men who were questioned by authorities, then had their travel rebooked. They are reportedly awaiting a later flight.

The incident comes just days after two separate Southwest flights were reportedly delayed on Wednesday. On a flight from Chicago's Midway Airport to Philadelphia, two passengers who had been speaking Arabic were questioned because another passenger reportedly felt unsafe due to their presence. After a brief conversation with crew members, the flight took off with all passengers aboard. The second incident involved passengers on a Chicago flight to Houston's Hobby Airport reportedly not allowing six Muslim passengers to board. Southwest issued a statement saying that in that particular instance some passengers had their travel rebooked for a later flight that day.