The pilot of Delta Air Lines flight 2557 from Houston Hobby airport to Atlanta reported to air traffic control that a passenger tried to breach the cockpit just after takeoff on Wednesday, though the airline later said this wasn’t the case – just “unruly and unlawful bahvior” toward both crew and customers.
- The captain told air traffic control that a passenger “got up and tried to access the cockpit”
- That the person was “in cuffs in the back”
- and the person “did assault another passenger” with a request for medical evaluation / paramedics
The Boeing 717 with 85 passengers and 5 crew turned back to Houston and landed at gate 32 around 5:40 a.m. for police to remove the man. The flight ultimately pushed back from the gate to head off for Atlanta again about an hour and 15 minutes later.
Video shows a shirtless male passenger is in the aisle with restraints around his wrists while other people are controlling his movement. A pilot can be seen standing in the aisle addressing passengers.
Air rage alert
Delta just had to turn Flight 2557 (Houston Hobby to Atlanta) right back around after takeoff this morning. 85 passengers on a Boeing 717, one guy starts acting unruly and unlawful toward others. He approached crew/passengers but Delta confirms zero contact and… pic.twitter.com/4YTmpacueM— Fahad Naim (@Fahadnaimb) February 18, 2026
It seems as though ‘tried to access’ the cockpit was being used loosely to refer to the galley area in front of the cockpit, while Delta’s statement uses ‘attempt to access’ in a more literal sense (such as contact with the flight deck door).
Waiting with bated breath and with the popcorn for the infamous Tim Dunn’s take on this. This ought to be good
@Scott Weber — Time to raise the rent. Tim cannot live free in our heads anymore, friends. Make him pay up!
Since the cockpit door remained closed, he undoubtedly relied on FA reports or, at best, what he could see out of the peephole in the cockpit door.
It really doesn’t matter if someone touched the cockpit door or not; if they were running up and down the aisle and had to be restrained by other passengers, they needed to come off the plane.
1990 is right – but a whole lot of people are happy to keep rolling out the red carpet
Yes, this moron went off. But in the video I saw he did not try to breach the cockpit, however, that doesn’t mean he didn’t try or his attempt was feeble.
I think that generally the pilots stay inside the cockpit with the door closed when a passenger is raging. This means that anything they report most likely comes from second hand information from the cabin crew. Add this to the airlines culture of lying and the report could be distorted or the report from the airline could be distorted. Hard to say.
Ok, moderation.
First sentence:
I think that generally the pilots stay inside the cockpit with the door closed when a passenger is raging.
Ok, moderation.
Second sentence:
This means that anything they report most likely comes from second hand information from the cabin crew.
Ok, moderation.
Third sentence:
Add this to the airlines culture of lying and the report could be distorted or the report from the airline could be distorted.
Ok, moderation.
First sentence is the problem one so I will restate an already benign statement:
I think that generally the pilots stay inside the co ckpit with the door closed when a passenger is raging.
Last sentence: Hard to say.