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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - An intoxicated passenger on a flight from Fort Simpson entered the cockpit, punched a pilot and also swore at and threatened the flight crew while they were trying to land the aircraft at the Yellowknife Airport on Thursday evening.

The aircraft - holding nine passengers and two crew - was able to land safely at Yellowknife Airport at 5:15 p.m.

Steve Loutitt, Yellowknife airport manager, said the passenger had only become a problem in the last 15 minutes of the flight.

"The passenger, who we later found out had been drinking, hit the co-pilot on the arm, started tugging on the pilot's flight suit, began swearing at him and started threatening him and the co-pilot," said Loutitt.

"He was identifying that he could land the aircraft better than they could," said Loutitt.

The incident occurred aboard a Dornier-228 turboprop plane, which has an open-door cockpit.

The Summit Air flight was operating with a pilot and first officer, and no flight attendant.

Yellowknife airport officials were notified of the disturbance by crew before the aircraft landed.

Steve Tanton, operations manager with Summit Air, said the passenger became unruly on approach.

He said once the plane landed, the passenger attempted to flee the moving aircraft before it had reached the terminal.

"On the ground in Yellowknife, he tried to exit the airplane before it made it to the apron," said Tanton.

"At that time, he was restrained by another passenger."

The RCMP were called and arrested the passenger without incident.

Tanton said no alcohol had been served on the flight. Even so, he added, the man "may have brought something in," he said. "There is nothing served on our flights."

Loutitt said an empty mickey of alcohol was found near the passenger's seat.

Tanton said the pilots weren't too shaken up.

"They were fine. They have dealt with it before," he said. "It is rare, but it does happen."

Their pilots, he said, are trained to deal with unruly passengers and hijacking attempts.

Loutitt commended the cool heads of the flight crew and passengers.

"One thing, the crew and passengers did an excellent job remaining very calm and professional the entire time," he said.

"Thanks to their professionalism the aircraft landed safely."

Tanton said the passenger would be barred from flying with Summit Air in the future.

As of press time Friday, Sgt. Larry O'Brien said no charges had yet been laid.

Loutitt said the passenger is "obviously facing some fairly severe criminal charges" for placing a flight at risk.