Passenger subdued after setting off firecrackers on flight from Amsterdam to Detroit

Passenger sets off firecrackers on Detroit flight

ROMULUS, Mich. — A passenger aboard a plane at Detroit Metropolitan Airport set off firecrackers Friday, causing a commotion and some minor injuries, a Delta official said.

Delta Air Lines spokeswoman Susan Elliott said the passenger was subdued immediately. She had no details on the injuries.

One passenger from the flight was taken to the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, hospital spokeswoman Tracy Justice said. She didn’t know the person’s condition, or whether the person was a man or woman. She referred all inquiries to the FBI.

An FBI spokeswoman in Detroit said the incident is being investigated.

The firecrackers went off as Northwest Airlines Flight 253, an Airbus 330 carrying 278 passengers, was arriving in Detroit from Amsterdam. Delta and Northwest have merged.

J.P. Karas, 55, of Wyandotte, Mich., said he was driving down a road near the airport and saw a Delta jet at the end of the runway, surrounded by police cars, an ambulance, a bus and some TV trucks.

“I don’t ever recall seeing a plane on that runway ever before and I pass by there frequently,” he said.

Karas said it was difficult to tell what was going on, but it looked like the front wheel was off the runway.

Associated Press writers Randi Berris in West Bloomfield, Mich., and Shelley Adler in Washington contributed to this report.