Unruly Passenger Forces RJ Flight Delay

A misbehaving passenger on Monday caused a Royal Jordanian (RJ) flight to be delayed for two-and-a-half hours after he claimed that the plane had a "security issue", an RJ official said Tuesday.

Before the take-off of the RJ plane from Queen Alia International Airport, the passenger, a Qatari national, was causing a nuisance on board the plane, forcing security personnel to remove him from the plane according to aviation regulations, RJ spokesperson Basel Kilani explained.

"While the passenger was being sent out of the plane, he told security personnel the plane had a security problem," he added, noting that the security personnel acted professionally and took the passenger's words seriously by reporting the statement to the captain.

Afterwards, the captain had to move the plane, which was heading to Dubai, to a nearby gate for further examination to confirm its safety, Kilani said.

"The RJ Airbus A320 aircraft was confirmed safe after the 2.5-hour delay and left the airport for its destination safely," Kilani said, adding that the unruly passenger was referred to security authorities for investigation.

RJ was established by a decree issued by His Majesty the late King Hussein in 1963 to be the national carrier.

According to its Facebook page, the airline has a modern fleet of 32 aircraft with flights covering 59 destinations spread over four continents.