Passenger snorting white substance diverts flight bound for San Francisco, officials say

A JetBlue flight bound for San Francisco was diverted to Minneapolis after a passenger reportedly snorted a white substance onboard, officials said.

Mark Anthony Scerbo, 42, of Mechanicville, New York, was arrested Sunday afternoon on suspicion of drug possession, Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport police told McClatchy News in a statement.

JetBlue Flight 915 was on its way from New York’s JFK Airport to San Francisco but diverted to Minneapolis-Saint Paul after a passenger started “acting erratically and aggressively toward crew members and other customers,” the airline said in a statement.

Upon arrival in Minneapolis-Saint Paul, police removed Scerbo from the flight, which then continued to San Francisco.

A video posted on Twitter of the incident shows a flight attendant speaking to passengers, saying that another passenger touched someone else, refused to wear a mask and snorted “a white substance.”

The attendant said the passenger made “stabbing motions” toward another passenger and a “bag with white substance” was discovered at his seat.

“It was decided that all four flight attendants felt uncomfortable with what was going on, there was a child up there other passengers felt uncomfortable,” the attendant said. “This was the closest place to go, so we as a team made the decision to come here.”

Scerbo was charged with possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree and possession of drugs in the third degree for 10 grams or more of a narcotic other than heroin, according to jail records.

Scerbo is being held at Hennepin County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.