Justin Sullivan A United Airlines flight was diverted back to Virginia because of a heated custody battle. An international custody battle got so heated mid-air, it rerouted a Beijing-bound plane back to Dulles Airport Thursday.
United Airlines Flight 897 was forced to return to the Virginia airport five hours after its departure because the FBI was tipped off that a mother attempted to take her child to China without the father’s permission, according to CBS News.
The mother and her child, whose names were not revealed, were pulled off the plane, and the child was transferred to the unidentified father’s care. The mother was then taken into custody.
The father had apparently notified the FBI that the mother was trying to take their child to China without his permission.
Justin Sullivan A mother was taken into custody after trying to spirit her daughter to China without the father's permission. The mother, who is facing kidnapping charges, is slated to appear in a Virginia federal court around 2 p.m. Friday, according to CBS.
Passenger Lane Bailey said the pilot said he was redirecting the flight because of “mechanical problems.”
“The pilot came on board and said we were experiencing mechanical problems,” Bailey said. “After they left, the pilot came back on and said that he deliberately mislead us, he thought that, in his judgment that it was the best thing to do, given the circumstances of potential abduction that that’s the reason we had diverted.”
