( CNN ) -- When flight attendants needed help with a disruptive passenger , Mets pitcher LaTroy Hawkins did n't balk . The lanky right-hander and fellow passengers pitched in , restraining the passenger while the plane was diverted to a nearby airport . Hawkins , 40 , tweeted about the experience , which he said interrupted his American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Santiago , Chile , where the ballplayer planned to go dove hunting . Hawkins said a passenger became upset when a flight attendant told him he could n't sit in an open seat in business class . `` They started to wrestle and landed in my lap , '' Hawkins tweeted . It was the wrong lap to land in apparently . Hawkins is 6 feet 5 inches and weighs 220 pounds . Hawkins and fellow passengers subdued the man , and the plane was diverted to Lima , Peru , where the passenger was removed . American confirmed that Flight 945 , carrying 206 passengers , was diverted early Monday because of an unruly passenger . `` The plane was met by local law enforcement when it arrived '' in Lima , spokesman Matt Miller told CNN . `` Other passengers on the flight helped our flight attendants escort the individual off the plane . '' The plane was on the ground for about two hours before departing for Santiago . `` Long day but we finally made it to our hunting lodge , '' Hawkins tweeted . Tweeted one Hawkins fan : `` Your new nickname should be air marshal . ''
A request comes to the airport for flight attendants . A passenger allegedly became disruptive after being refused a seat upgrade . Airline says local law enforcement took him off the aircraft in Lima , Peru .