Plane returns to airport after smoker lights up

Passengers help restrain man on Atlanta-to-New York flight

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ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- A Delta flight carrying 156 passengers had to return to Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport on Saturday after a passenger became unruly, an airline spokeswoman said.

Dee Baker Amos told CNN that about an hour after Delta Flight 308 departed Atlanta for New York's LaGuardia Airport at 3:30 p.m. EST, a male passenger began smoking.

"Of course the flight attendants asked him not to smoke, and when he refused, the passengers and flight attendants restrained him," she said.

North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) was alerted and monitored the situation by radio, a spokesman said.

"We had aircraft already in the air and began to posture those aircraft to head toward the region if necessary, but the situation was under control before our aircraft arrived, and there was no need to do anything," said Maj. Barry Venable, a NORAD spokesman.

The man was detained by authorities at the airport and will be charged with interfering with a flight crew, a law enforcement source said.

The other passengers were put on another flight to LaGuardia.

"Everyone communicated well, and everything worked as it is supposed to," Amos said.

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