COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. -- Two F-16 fighter jets under the direction of Continental U.S. North American Aerospace Defense Command Region were scrambled after the pilot of a commercial flight reported a drunken passenger locked in a lavatory.

The jets were launched at 11:44 a.m., in response to reports of an unruly passenger aboard AirTran Airways Flight 39 from Atlanta bound for San Francisco.

The Boeing 737-700 carried 137 people and diverted from its intended flight path as it approached Raton, N.M. and proceeded directly to the Colorado Springs airport.

The fighter jets arrived as the pilot was landing at the airport at about noon Mountain Time. NORAD and Northcomm wouldn't divulge where the fighter jets were based, or if they were Air Force or Air National Guard jets.

Flight 39 was flying from Atlanta to San Francisco when it diverted to Colorado Springs at about 11:30 a.m.

"The passenger refused to follow flight crew instructions to take his seat and then proceeded to lock himself in the aft lavatory," said AirTran Airways spokeswoman Christopher White.

The passenger was reported by the crew to be intoxicated, according to airport officials and the FBI.

The man was detained by the Colorado Springs Police Department airport unit after the plane landed safely.

Cell phone photographs taken by other passengers showed Colorado Springs police officers escorting the passenger off the plane in handcuffs.

"He may have grabbed one of the flight attendants when they were trying to give him some direction," said FBI Special Agent Kathy Wright.

"I believe his shoes were taken off at one point," Wright said.

The FBI later identified the man as Muhammad Abu Tahir, 46, of Virginia. He was to be detained on a federal hold over the weekend in the El Paso County Jail.

Federal charges for interference with a flight crew are expected to be filed on Monday in Denver federal court. If convicted, Tahir could face up to 20 years in federal prison, and up to a $250,000 fine.

The jet resumed its flight to San Francisco at 3:53 p.m., minus Tahir.

Click here to see the flight path.

On Wednesday, NORAD scrambled two F-15 fighters to escort a commercial jetliner bound for Hawaii back to Portland, Ore., after a report of a disruptive passenger. The jet returned to Portland, where the passenger was taken off the plane.

Fighter jets were scrambled to intercept planes 123 times in 2008.

"What's not going to be tolerated is any misbehavior by passengers," aviation safety expert Steve Cowell told 7NEWS. "We are trying to take our lessons learned and apply them to our situations now."