Passenger plane makes emergency landing after cabin crew got into a mid-air fight

A JETLINER was forced to make an emergency landing – after two stewardesses started fighting midair.

   PLANE FIGHT: A cabin crew squabble forced the captain to land the plane

Trouble broke out about 40 minutes into the Delta flight from Los Angeles to Minneapolis in the US between two trolley dollies arguing about 'work issues'.

The pair allegedly began a fist fight - and a third female attendant who tried to calm things down was whacked in the face.

When the captain heard of the trouble he radioed air traffic control to authorise an unscheduled landing so he could "hear from the flight attendants".

The Boeing 757-200 diverted to Salt Lake City in Utah where the three cabin crew members were kicked off for "bad behaviour".

  DIVERSION: This maps show how far the plane was into the flight

The plane was grounded for 80 minutes while a back-up crew was found before taking off again for Minneapolis 75 minutes behind schedule.

One of the 300 passengers later said they were told that three cabin crew members had been kicked off due to "bad behaviour".

Delta immediately apologised in a letter to the delayed passengers when the plane arrive at its final destination after the bust-up on January 22.

The letter said: "I am sorry we didn't deliver on our brand promise for you today.

"Some of our team members did not display their best behaviour.

"We expect our flight crew to be nothing but courteous and professional at all times and what you experienced was far from that."

GROUNDED: Passengers were furious to see their flight disrupted

The decision to divert was made at 37,000 feet, when the plane was about 180 nautical miles south of Salt Lake City, Utah.

According to flight records, the plane left Los Angeles, California at 16.50 and arrived in Minneapolis, Minnesota at 21.42 – four hours and 52 minutes later.

In a statement, Delta said: "We apologise to those customers who were inconvenienced after flight 2598 from Los Angeles to Minneapolis made an unscheduled stop in Salt Lake City following an altercation involving two flight attendants on board.

"The actions of these crew members in no way reflect the values and professionalism we expect from all of our employees.

"We strive to ensure that every customer has a great experience with Delta.

"We regret that our customers' experience did not live up to our expectations.

"We provided a letter to our customers immediately upon landing in Minneapolis-St.Paul to apologize for any inconvenience this situation may have caused.

"To reimburse our passengers, SkyMiles members received miles, while customers who are not currently SkyMiles members received a travel voucher."