Woman passenger of U.S. Southwest Airlines removed for threatening to "kill everybody on plane"

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- A woman passenger aboard a flight of U.S. Southwest airlines from Portland, Oregan to Sacramento in California on the U.S. west coast, was removed for threatening to "kill everyone on the plane," local TV KRON4 reported Monday.

The in-flight trouble started after the passenger disabled a smoke detector on the aircraft and began to smoke in a restroom onboard Saturday, the TV said.

A TV footage, recorded by a fellow passenger, showed that the woman yelled at a flight attendant and threatened to kill everyone on the flight.

The TV quoted a passenger as saying that the woman was removed from the plane's bathroom when people discovered she was smoking inside.

The woman was later restrained for the rest of the flight and escorted to law enforcement officers when the plane landed, a report from another TV report said.

"Our Crew in command of Flight 2943 traveling from Portland on Saturday afternoon safely landed on-time in Sacramento following an inflight disturbance," KRON4 TV quoted a statement from Southwest airlines as saying.

The pilots of the flight declared an emergency to receive priority handling from air traffic controllers after the in-flight disturbance occurred, the statement said.

"The safety of our Crew and Passengers is our top priority and we take all threats seriously," it noted. Enditem