Miami-Dade Police on Monday was called to remove a man who forced his way onto an American Airlines flight at Miami International Airport.
According to police, the man was observed by American Airlines staff "acting suspiciously" in the concourse. When he was approached, he had a brief conversation with airline personnel before suddenly bolting away.
The man ran straight past a gate agent and onto a jetway where an American flight was getting set to pull away.
"During the boarding process of American Airlines flight 1060 from Miami to Newark, a ticketed passenger for that flight ran on the jetbridge, bypassing the gate agent," Ross Feinstein, spokesperson for American Airlines, told USA TODAY in an emailed statement. "Law enforcement was summoned, who removed the passenger."
Lee Cowart, detective and public information officer at the Miami-Dade Police Department, said American officials contacted the police for assistance.
"Officers responded," said Cowart. "They removed adult male from the airplane and deemed him to be in crisis."
The unidentified man was taken to a nearby hospital under the Baker Act, which stipulates that a person believed to be in crisis and posing a threat to themselves or others can be forcibly taken into custody and held involuntarily for up to 72 hours in a mental health treatment facility.
"He was not arrested," said Cowart. "He was taken to a facility for evaluation."
After the aircraft was checked for damages and weapons, the flight took off for New Jersey.
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