JetBlue flight diverted over unruly passenger

WASHINGTON — A JetBlue Airways flight from Boston to the Dominican Republic had to land in the Washington, D.C., area Friday afternoon because of an unruly passenger, the company and federal officials said.

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Flight 691 was diverted to Washington-Dulles International Airport and landed at 1:13 p.m., JetBlue spokesman Mateo Lleras said.

Lleras said the Transportation Safety Administration and local law enforcement were notified and the passenger was taken into custody. He said he could not be more specific about what the passenger was doing that forced the plane to land.

The passenger may have had an anxiety attack, according to a security official familiar with the incident who spoke on condition of anonymity because there had not been an official medical diagnosis.

No one was hurt. Lleras said the flight continued to Santo Domingo just before 2 p.m.

The passenger was released by mid-afternoon Friday, said airport spokesman Rob Yingling. No charges were filed.

JetBlue was already in the news this week when flight attendant Steven Slater went onto the public address system Monday on a plane at New York's Kennedy Airport after a flight from Pittsburgh, cursed out a passenger he said had treated him rudely, and then slid off the plane on an emergency slide.

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Associated Press Writer Brett Zongker contributed to this report.