From Miami Herald.
Apparently jets scrambled when pilot lost contact with cabin crew(?).
"An unruly passenger aboard a Venezuela-bound plane caused the pilot to turn back to Miami -- and prompted the scrambling of fighter jets as a precautionary measure, said a spokesman for American Airlines.
''It was just one huge misunderstanding,'' FBI spokeswoman Beverly Esselbach said. Agents interviewed the 69-year-old female passenger and others aboard Flight 2133 after it returned to Miami. There was physical contact between the passenger and flight attendant, but no one was hurt, she said.
Minutes after the flight took off for Caracas at 7:22 p.m, a flight attendant reported an altercation with a passenger, said Tim Wagner, an airline spokesman. After deciding to turn back, the pilot lost contact with the cabin crew -- which normally communicates via an intercom -- and declared an emergency to air-traffic controllers.
''That's what caused the fighter jets to be scrambled,'' Wagner said. The 757 jet, with its 126 passengers and seven crew members, touched down at MIA at 8:13 p.m.
The FBI interviewed the passenger but didn't charge her. The plane returned to the air at 9:40 p.m."