
 
 An unruly passenger prompted a Hawaiian Airlines flight from Las Vegas to divert to Los Angeles Wednesday morning. 
 
 The airline confirms HA7 departed Las Vegas at 8:44 a.m. local time and was about an hour into the flight, just past Los Angeles, when the crew was notified of an unruly passenger. 
 
 The airline said in a statement: “Our flight crews are responsible for the safety and comfort of all passengers on board our flights and the Captain in charge of the aircraft is entrusted with determining when it’s best to deplane an anxious or unruly passenger. Diverting a fight is clearly not our first choice, but our crew felt it was necessary to divert to Los Angeles and deplane the passenger before beginning to fly over the Pacific Ocean.” 
 
 Los Angeles Airport Police and the FBI met the aircraft at the gate. Officials said there was a dispute between a 66-year-old male passenger and the flight crew over the charge for a blanket. 
 
 “The male passenger had asked for a blanket because he was cold and was told there was a $12 fee that accompanied the blanket,” said Rob Pedregon, Los Angeles Airport Police. 
 
 Pedregon said the passenger “made a statement that he wanted to take somebody behind the woodshed over this, which prompted the flight crew to contact the captain who then in turn diverted the aircraft to LAX.” 
 
 Once at the airport, the passenger was escorted to the ticketing area. He was not arrested. Officials say there was no credible or direct threat made, and no crime was committed. 
 
 “(The crew) took offense to the statement that he made. Maybe they felt uncomfortable with it, which is well within their rights to divert the plane and refuse service,” Pedregon said. 
 
 We’ve learned that incidents involving unruly passengers happen regularly nationwide. Last year, there were 79 incidents, and in each of the previous four years, more than a hundred. 
 
 Passengers on Wednesday’s flight had mixed reactions about the delay. 
 
 Dallas resident Claudia Rodriguez said the airline did not provide much information during the incident. 
 
 “He looked like he was drunk. He just looked like he was a drunken person,” she told KHON2. “The thing we were most upset about was when we got off the plane, when they deplaned us after sitting for an hour, we talked to one of the staff and we asked them what we would do next, and we were not given a lot of information. They told us to go ahead and seek other options, so we went ahead and bought another ticket for my husband and I and we’re not going to get a refund on that one. We ended up losing $600.” 
 
 Passenger Bianca Moors said, “I’m okay with this. They’re doing it to protect the passengers as well as the crew, because I think this is a very expensive stop for Hawaiian.” 
 
 HA7 departed Los Angeles at 2:15 p.m. local time, and should arrive in Honolulu at 7:07 p.m. local time. ||||| A Hawaiian Airlines passenger got booted off a flight Wednesday after he threatened to "take someone behind the woodshed" and refused to pay $12 for a blanket, officials said. 
 
 The incident began after the plane took off from Las Vegas, and a 66-year-old passenger complained that he was cold, according to Officer Rob Pedregon, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Airport Police Department. 
 
 He asked for a blanket and was told it would cost $12, the officer said. The man became upset and said he shouldn’t have to pay because it was cold, he said. 
 
 So he asked to speak with the airline’s corporate office. During an in-flight call with company representatives, the man allegedly said, “I would like to take someone behind the woodshed for this.” 
 
 After the man’s comment, the flight was diverted to LAX due to “an unruly passenger,” and airport police were called, Pedregon said. 
 
 Police and federal authorities met with the flight crew and passenger when the plane landed at 10:20 a.m. 
 
 Officers listened to the man’s complaints and then sent him on his way. Police determined there was no criminal threat, Pedregon said. 
 
 The man managed to catch another flight, he said. 
 
 veronica.rocha@latimes.com 
 
 Twitter: VeronicaRochaLA 
 
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– An outraged passenger caused a plane to be diverted—all over a $12 blanket fee. The brouhaha began shortly after the Honolulu-bound Hawaiian Airlines flight left Las Vegas on Wednesday morning, KHON reports. The 66-year-old man complained of being cold, asked for a blanket, learned the price, and demanded to talk to the airline's corporate office. During the in-flight call he placed, he allegedly threatened to "take someone behind the woodshed," an LA Airport Police rep tells the Los Angeles Times. Though officials say no "credible threat" was made, the flight crew's discomfort led them to alert the captain. "Our crew felt it was necessary to divert to Los Angeles and deplane the passenger before beginning to fly over the Pacific Ocean," says the airline in a statement. The man was not charged with any offense and boarded another flight. The $12 blanket fee provoked protests on Twitter, with one man tweeting he'll put Hawaiian Airlines "atop my 'no fly' list." The pricey blanket has drawn criticism in the past from cold customers like this one.