Puerto Vallarta unrest forces Milwaukee flight to return

Puerto Vallarta unrest forces Milwaukee flight to return

A Puerto Vallarta flight landed in Milwaukee after violence in Mexico led to cancellations and shelter-in-place advisories, with passengers describing smoke and chaos at the airport.

MILWAUKEE - A flight from Puerto Vallarta landed at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport after violence in Mexico prompted cancellations and shelter-in-place advisories on Sunday, Feb. 22.

What we know:

According to Mexico’s Defense Ministry, the Mexican Army killed Nemesio Cervantes, known as "El Mencho," during a military raid. Officials said he was injured in the operation and died while being flown to Mexico City.

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The unrest led to canceled flights to Puerto Vallarta and Guadalajara. The U.S. government urged Americans to shelter in place in parts of Jalisco, including the popular beach destination.

Local perspective:

A flight from Puerto Vallarta landed in Milwaukee just hours after the violence. Passengers on board said they were forced to come back. 

Courtesy of Patti Beck and Jeff Lien

Patti Beck, of Rochester, said when they landed in Mexico, they saw smoke and people running from the airport onto the tarmac.

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She captured video and photos, describing the situation as scary.

Beck said they waited about 90 minutes on the tarmac before they were able to take off again and return safely to Milwaukee.

Courtesy of Patti Beck and Jeff Lien

"All of a sudden, people in masses started running out of the building, running as far away from the building as they could get," Beck said. "Pilot came on and said the building is being evacuated and shut down. We sat there. Pretty much sat there waiting and everybody is like, what is going on?"

She said she is grateful to be safe.

Dig deeper:

Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport referred FOX6 to the airline, GlobalX, a charter carrier. Beck said the airline and its staff were great throughout the entire ordeal.

GlobalX has not responded yet to a request for comment.