A flight to Seattle was forced to return to Anchorage after a male passenger stripped naked and locked himself in the airplane bathroom.

"There was a subject on the aircraft that had barricaded or locked himself in the lavatory," airport police Sgt. Darcy Perry told KTVA-TV. "Flight attendants did find that the subject was naked."

Kate Danyluk, a passenger on Alaskan Airlines flight 146, told the AP she didn't see the man, but knew something was wrong when the flight attendants kept rushing up and down the aisles wearing rubber gloves.

"The police came on and took him out the back door," Danyluk added. Others were standing near the lavatory to block passengers' views. "He just wasn't in his right mind," she overheard someone say.

"I'd rather go back to Anchorage than have something happen," Danyluk said. "Safety first."

An Alaska Airlines spokesman told CBS News, "Alaska Airlines flight 146 from Anchorage to Seattle returned to Anchorage due to a passenger not following flight attendant's instructions. While no emergency was declared, the decision was made to return to Anchorage."

The flight landed back in Anchorage shortly before 3am, when the 178 passengers disembarked and reboarded the plane, restarting their trip to Seattle at 6:30am.