Latest reports from El Paso reveal the case won't be prosecuted. After conducting interviews, the FBI reportedly determined the flight attendent threw peanuts at a woman who responded by tossing a drink. Assuming I have the facts correct and the case was declined, I recommend firing the flight attendent immediately, (for lack of judgment and lack of required service skills) and I would be looking hard at the flight crew. My guess is the flight crew probably didn't hvae the facts and relied on embellished reports from the cabin crew before deciding to divert. I would suggest the passenger seek legal advice as this appears to be an attempt at malicious prosecution. Airline staff, especially cabin crew, must be re-instructed on service and who pays the bills. The traveling public do not need cabin police...they need cabin service. Every traveler upset with levels of service should not hesitate making their dissatisfaction known. Voicing opinions and criticizing employees to provide for a paid service is not interference with a flight crew. GN -----Original Message----- From: The Airline List [mailto:AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU]On Behalf Of W Wilson Sent: Tuesday, December 25, 2001 5:05 PM To: AIRLINE@LISTSERV.CUNY.EDU Subject: Houston-LA flight diverted due to unruly passenger Houston-LA flight diverted due to unruly passenger Tuesday December 25, 6:26 PM EST (adds more FAA quotes, paragraphs 6-7) HOUSTON, Dec 25 (Reuters) - A Continental Airlines (CAL) flight from Houston to Los Angeles was diverted to El Paso, Texas, on Tuesday after a passenger became unruly, a Continental spokesman said. Spokesman David Messing said Flight 627 landed at the airport in El Paso at 12:45 p.m. (2:45 p.m. EST(1945 GMT) and police took the passenger into custody. The passenger was not immediately identified and there were no details concerning his or her behavior on the plane -- a Boeing 757 with 183 passengers and seven crew members aboard. No injuries were immediately reported. "Expectations are the flight will continue," Messing said. Laura Brown, a spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington, said diversions for unruly passengers were "fairly common." Later she said she understood the incident had no relation to any terrorist threat but added the FAA would seek prosecution of the individual or individuals involved. "We take that very seriously," she said, referring to unruly passengers, "and that's why we'll be pursuing an enforcement action." The FAA recorded 266 "enforcement actions" involving unruly passengers last year, according to the agency's Web site. But since 19 men hijacked four planes on Sept. 11, airlines and travelers have become more security conscious and suspicious of unusual behavior by passengers. More than 3,000 people were killed when two of the planes were crashed into the World Trade Center, one was flown into the Pentagon and the fourth crashed in rural Pennsylvania. On Saturday, a Paris-Miami American Airlines flight was diverted to Boston when a man apparently tried to ignite explosives in his shoes. ©2001 Reuters Limited.