A scary day for passengers on a cross-country flight Friday after their plane was diverted to the Colorado Springs Airport because of an unruly passenger. Authorities say Muhammad Abu Tahir, 46 years of age, of Virginia faces a charge of Interference With A Flight Crew.

The Colorado Springs Airport says it was an AirTran 737, flight #39 with 132 passengers on board, flying from Atlanta to San Francisco. Authorities say a passenger identified as Muhammad Abu Tahir, 46 years of age, of Virginia was drunk and argumentative and locked himself in the bathroom of the plane.

That's when the pilot decided to make an emergency landing in Colorado.

The flight landed in Colorado Springs and the Tahir was immediately apprehended by Colorado Springs police. Tahir was transported to the El Paso County jail where he will be detained on a federal hold over the weekend.

If convicted of interference with a flight crew, the defendant faces not more than 20 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine. Federal charges are expected to be filed on Monday, January, 11, 2010, in the District of Colorado, Denver.

There was a group of 55 high school students from South Carolina on the plane on their way to a student council trip in California.

One of those students told a CBS affiliate in South Carolina that the captain came on and said they were making an emergency landing and that there was a cart blocking off the restroom. He says the flight crew remained calm the whole time.

Colorado Springs Airport officials say the other passengers on the flight were taken off the plane and congregated in the concourse. Around 3:30 p.m., all of those passengers began boarding a plane again to finish their trip to California.

No one was injured in the incident.

NORAD tells 11 News they flew two F-16 fighters to provide security in the air in case they were needed.

NORAD released the following statement regarding the incident:

Two F-16 fighters under the direction of Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region launched at 11:44 a.m. MST today in response to reports of an unruly passenger aboard Air Tran Flight 39 from Atlanta bound for San Francisco.