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Of the airplane to handle a problem passenger. reporter: after nearly 6,000 reports last year, this year, nearly 400, two-thirds related to on board mask mandates. late today, the texas attorney general sued the biden administration to overturn the mask mandate in airports and on planes, but for the past year, the faa has come down hard on bad behavior, rolling out a national public information campaign. these events need to stop and we are working very hard to do that. reporter: delta airlines and the nation s biggest flight attendants union called for a single no fly list to ban people traveling any u.s. airline if convicted of on board disruption. i have to be really clear, this is not something we can accept as a new normal. reporter: a group of republican senators, while condemning bad behavior, opposes that no fly list, it would seemingly equate those passengers to terrorists. delta wants to assure individuals that endangered safety and security of our ....
Since the terror attacks it is hard to remember what every day life was like before 9/11. we didn t have to take the shoes off to board a plane and while it s the norm now threats continue to evolve forces dhs which didn t exist before 9/11 to reexamine how it keeps americans safe. here s nbc s pete williams. reporter: on board a delta air lines flight from los angeles to atlanta an urgent plea from the pilot. wed d like all strong males to the front of the aircraft to handle a problem passenger. reporter: an atlanta businessman quick to respond. i immediately jumped like pulled the shoulders, pull the hood to the head. reporter: people take more responsibility for security. a spirit born aboard flight 93 hijacked and diverted with a terrorist at the controls. i island like to tell you all to remain seated. we have a bomb aboard and we are going to back to the airport. ....
Routine today didn t exist at the time. the government responded with the department of homeland security, which is struggling to keep up with new threats here is pete williams. reporter: on board a delta airlines flight from los angeles to atlanta, an urgent plea from the pilot. we d like all strong males to the front of the aircraft to handle a problem passenger. an atlanta businessman was quick to respond. i immediately jumped, grabbed his shoulders, pulled his hood over his head and pulled him to the ground. reporter: since 9/11, people take more responsibility for their own security, a spirit born aboard united flight 93, hijacked on 9/11 and diverted with a terrorist at the controls i would like to tell you all to remain seated we have a bomb aboard. and we are going back to the airport, and we have our demands so remain quiet. reporter: passengers stormed the cockpit led by todd beamer s cry let s roll. ....
Unruly rioters this year. the number of faa investigations already three times more than a normal year. the faa releasing a zero tolerance psa. stop. and tsa resuming self-defense classes for workers. to handle problem passenger. reporter: masked planes enflaming the stresses of airline travel. hoping the mandates end soon. the current order expires september 13th and i guess it will expire on september 13th. clearly the masks are a spark point but it s not the underlying cause. any flight attendant would say there s something much bigger going on here and there is just a general aggression. reporter: american and southwest airlines stopping alcohol service, and the faa handing out massive fines from 7,500 to $52,000. ....
On unruly flyers. help me! reporter: the struggle and screams coming from the most unlikely of passengers. stay down! reporter: an off duty delta airlines flight attendant onboard a flight from los angeles to atlanta. the pilot asking for, quote, all strong males to come to the front of the aircraft to handle a problem passenger. i am very thankful that it did not end badly. reporter: passengers saying the man who police identified as 34-year-old stephon jamar duncan of atlanta, made an announcement over the plane s p.a. system, telling everyone to take their seats and prepare to put on oxygen masks. that created quite a stir amongst everyone around us. it became very tense. reporter: the plane safely diverting to oklahoma city. according to the police report, the off-duty attendant making statements about being seated next to a terrorist and stashing his personal items like tennis balls in various places throughout the plane. ignoring orders from the flight crew, the r ....