An American Eagle flight was forced to divert in Colorado Springs to offload a passenger after a “service dog” attack onboard.

American Eagle Flight Diverts After “Service Dog” Attacks Passenger

On April 15, 2025, American flight AA4980 departed from Provo, Utah (PVU) bound for Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). The flight was operated on behalf of American Eagle by a SkyWest CRJ-700 (registration code N767SK).

About an hour after takeoff, the plane made a sharp turn left and diverted to Colorado Springs (COS). The reason for the diversion? A dog attack onboard.

On the ground, the Colorado Springs Fire Department met the aircraft and transported one passenger to a local hospital. The condition of the passenger is not known.

After about an hour on the ground, AA4980 continued to DFW, landing at 5:05 pm (about 2.5 hours late).

US law requires airlines to allow service animals, limited to certain dog breeds, in passenger cabins at no cost. This includes so-called “psychiatric service animals” that can be self-certified.

> Read More: There’s A New Loophole To Allow Emotional Support Animals On Planes…

What Is The Long-Term Solution For Situations Like This?

Rather than be my usual divisive self today and just call for a blanket ban on dogs on airplanes (yeah, that’s still my position, but I’ve been a lot more pragmatic lately and am willing to compromise), what about requiring an insurance policy for dogs onboard to address potential attacks and holding dog owners criminally liable if their animals attacks, since that would demonstrate a willful misleading on the documentation attesting that the dog has been trained?

One Mile At A Time says that, “The whole reason we see this psychiatric service animal concept to begin with is because the lack of humane options that airlines provide for transporting dogs and other pets, as live animals really shouldn’t be put in the cargo hold,” but I am not clear on what basis he makes that reamks.

Are cargo holds also not pressurized and climate-controlled? We’ve certainly heard horror stories over the years about dogs dying in cargo holds, but that strikes me as sensational news coverage, just like coverage of air crashes. It is their rarity that makes them newsworthy. The US Department of Transportation puts the rate of animal deaths at 0.5 deaths per 10,000 animals transported…those are some darn good odds.

The issue, it seems to me, is finding a common-sense approach (including a potential liability waiver for airlines for any dog that has a pre-existing condition) that provides dogs with dignity in the cargo hold while minimizing risk in the cabin (from allergies and attacks) for human passengers.

CONCLUSION

A dog bite forced the diversion of an American Eagle flight and led to the hospitalization of one passenger, whose condition is not known. My thoughts go out to that passenger…I hope the injury is not life-threatening or handicapping.

Yesterday, I was on a flight where a young white woman in fancy workout clothes brought a big dog onboard with a small red service animal vest. It’s such a common occurrence now…the easy solution to travel with your dog across the country. I bring up her race, gender, and wardrobe because, at least anecdotally for me, it is invariably the same passenger type that takes large dogs onboard with service vests.

Without “throwing the baby out with the bathwater” for those who truly need service animals (and that is really not for me to say…), I’d say the solution is more liability for owners who choose to bring their dogs onboard, if they do not behave. Because dogs who have not been trained as “formal” service dogs and serve merely as psychiatric support animals pose a risk to others on the plane…an unacceptable risk.