Officers flying home from NYPD cop's funeral thwart suicide attempt

CHICAGO, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- A JetBlue flight was diverted after a heated argument led to a suicide attempt that was thwarted by police officers returning home from slain NYPD Officer Wenjian Liu's funeral.

A 32-year-old woman was having a drunken argument with her husband before getting on the plane, according to Salt Lake City police detective Robert Odor. A flight attendant knew Odor was a police officer and asked if she could seat the troubled woman next to him.

The woman "was obviously having emotional distress" when she sat down and took out prescription medication and ingested it, Odor said. She began writing a suicide note in a notebook about 30 minutes later and tried swallowing a second bottle of pills before Odor intervened.

Several officers and a doctor on board tried to get the pills out of her mouth. She bit the doctor, and officers had to "actually open her jaw so she would let go of his hand," Odor said.

She was held down for more than an hour as Salt Lake City Police Sgt. Terry Wall, a crisis-intervention specialist, tried to calm her down.

JetBlue said in a statement that the flight that left Kennedy International Airport in New York City and was to arrive in Salt Lake City diverted to Chicago "after a medical/security issue was reported in the cabin."

"The aircraft landed safely, without incident, and was met by first responders," JetBlue said. "A customer was taken to a local hospital for further evaluation."