Pilot diverts flight, has passenger arrested

BOSTON | A U.S. Airways airliner en route from Philadelphia to London made an unscheduled stop in Boston Monday after the pilot deemed a passenger’s behavior unruly and decided to have him removed from the plane.

John Alexander Murray, of Glasgow, Scotland, was arrested shortly after flight 728 landed at Logan International Airport at 11:08 p.m. Monday, said airport spokesman Phil Orlandella. The plane departed for London two hours later, Orlandella said.

Glasgow, 50, was being held in Boston early Tuesday. Orlandella said he was arrested for interfering with a flight crew. It wasn’t clear if he had been charged, and police weren’t immediately available for comment.

U.S. Airways spokesman Todd Lehmacher said the pilot decided to land the plane in Boston and have Murray removed before beginning the trans-Atlantic crossing “in the interest of safety.”

Neither Lehmacher nor Orlandella could say what kind of disturbance Murray is alleged to have caused on the flight. Lehmacher said there doesn’t appear to have been any kind of terrorist threat.