Two Delta Flights Delayed by Unruly Passengers

A passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight attempted to open a cabin door while the plane was on the taxiway at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport on Monday, prompting the crew to return to the gate and remove the individual. In a separate incident the same day, authorities in Miami arrested a woman who refused to end a phone call on another Delta flight, forcing a full deplaning and a one-hour delay.

The first disruption occurred on Delta Flight DL2879, a Boeing 737-900 bound for Chicago's O'Hare International Airport with 168 passengers aboard. The plane had pushed back from the gate at 7:38 p.m. but halted during taxiing due to a ground stop at O'Hare amid severe thunderstorms affecting the Midwest. Video footage posted on social media captured a man wearing a blue baseball cap yelling into the aircraft phone after learning of an additional delay on top of three to four hours already experienced.

"How long has it been delayed already? Three, four hours, and now you're talking another hour?" the passenger said. He then handed the phone to a crew member, approached the cabin door and partially opened it, though the emergency slide did not deploy. Passengers gasped,...