A plane has had to make an emergency landing in the United States because of a rowdy passenger.

The machine en route from Los Angeles to the capital Washington landed on Sunday at the airport in Kansas City in the state of Missouri, according to the airline American Airlines.

One passenger exhibited "erratic behavior" and was eventually overpowered by crew members and other passengers.

An eyewitness told US news channel CNN that the man tried to get into the cockpit and open an airplane door.

A flight attendant then hit him on the head with a coffee pot.

A passenger told the New York Times that the man seemed paranoid.

The man was arrested after the plane landed, the FBI said.

According to the US Federal Aviation Administration, almost 6,000 rule violations were registered by airline passengers last year.

More than 70 percent of the cases involved disputes over corona protective masks.