Flight with members of Congress returning for reopening vote diverted to KCI
An American Airlines flight carrying four Arizona members of Congress returning to Washington, D.C. to vote on reopening the government was diverted on Tuesday evening to Kansas City International Airport.
American Flight 1218 from Phoenix’s Sky Harbor International Airport to Arlington’s Reagan National Airport was diverted two hours and 41 minutes into its flight to KCI, known by travelers by its airport code MCI, according to the flight tracking website FlightAware.
“We’re making an emergency stop in Kansas City to remove disruptive passenger,” said U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton, a Democrat from Arizona, in a post on X, formerly Twitter. He noted that he was flying to Washington to vote no on the continuing resolution that “fails to lower health care costs.”
Also on the flight were U.S. Representatives Eli Crane, Andy Biggs and Paul Gosar, all Republicans from Arizona, Stanton said in the tweet.
Stanton joked, “None of my colleagues is the disruptor. Freedom Caucus is losing its mojo.”
In a follow-up post, Stanton thanked police for handling the situation professionally and without incident.
Another passenger, Adam Burtner, posted a video of the passenger being escorted off, who said, “Sorry folks. We live in a fascist state.”
The flight left Phoenix about 3:34 p.m., Kansas City time, and landed in Kansas City about 6:15 p.m., according to FlightAware, which listed the flight as diverted. The flight continued on to Washington about 7:10 p.m., landing about one hour and 50 minutes later.
Airport police escorted the passenger off the flight, Jackson Overstreet, a spokesman for the Kansas City Aviation Department, said in a statement.
Police did not arrest the passenger, but escorted the person to the ticket counter area to book another flight, Jackson said.
This story was originally published November 12, 2025 at 9:31 AM.
