Narrative:

One of the F/a (flight attendants) called the flight deck and informed us that there was a passenger sitting in the aft portion of the aircraft who was behaving strangely but was not yet a problem. We acknowledged and told the F/a to keep us informed of the situation and if it became more of a problem. As time went on; the situation did indeed escalate and it went from the individual in question behaving strangely to becoming much more belligerent; such as being loud and obnoxious; using profanity; making loud comments to other passengers that made no sense; and eventually refusing to comply with F/a`s instructions. At that point; we were now in threat level 1. During this time; we had already started our descent; so we continued to our destination. Unfortunately; events in the cabin escalated even further and eventually became physical and the disruptive passenger had to be restrained with the use of the aircraft restraint cuffs. We were then in threat level 2. This was apparently a free for all encounter by the F/a`s account and it took an off duty commuting company ffdo (federal flight deck officer) pilot; a law enforcement officer who was onboard; and possibly two or three other individuals; some of whom had law enforcement experience to subdue this individual. We had previously informed dispatch and destination station operations of our situation and they were prepared for us with ample law enforcement officers; medical personnel; and station representatives as we pulled into the gate. The individual was removed from the aircraft without incident and the F/a's were polled as to their mental frame of mind for our return flight to XXX. Though somewhat startled; they all felt they were up mentally for the return flight to XXX; so we proceeded as planned. To my knowledge; no one was actually physically injured during this event; and destination operations later informed me that the disruptive passenger had been taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: A B737 flight crew reported a serious unruly passenger incident while at cruise altitude. The individual was subdued; and the flight continued to the destination airport; where law enforcement personnel were waiting.

Narrative: One of the F/A (Flight Attendants) called the flight deck and informed us that there was a Passenger sitting in the aft portion of the aircraft who was behaving strangely but was not yet a problem. We acknowledged and told the F/A to keep us informed of the situation and if it became more of a problem. As time went on; the situation did indeed escalate and it went from the individual in question behaving strangely to becoming much more belligerent; such as being loud and obnoxious; using profanity; making loud comments to other Passengers that made no sense; and eventually refusing to comply with F/A`s instructions. At that point; we were now in Threat Level 1. During this time; we had already started our descent; so we continued to our destination. Unfortunately; events in the cabin escalated even further and eventually became physical and the disruptive Passenger had to be restrained with the use of the aircraft restraint cuffs. We were then in Threat Level 2. This was apparently a free for all encounter by the F/A`s account and it took an off duty commuting Company FFDO (Federal Flight Deck Officer) Pilot; a Law Enforcement Officer who was onboard; and possibly two or three other individuals; some of whom had law enforcement experience to subdue this individual. We had previously informed Dispatch and destination Station operations of our situation and they were prepared for us with ample Law Enforcement Officers; Medical Personnel; and Station Representatives as we pulled into the gate. The individual was removed from the aircraft without incident and the F/A's were polled as to their mental frame of mind for our return flight to XXX. Though somewhat startled; they all felt they were up mentally for the return flight to XXX; so we proceeded as planned. To my knowledge; no one was actually physically injured during this event; and destination operations later informed me that the disruptive Passenger had been taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.