A321
Flight Attendant Current
Distraction; Troubleshooting
Flight Deck / Cabin / Aircraft Event Other / Unknown
Flight Crew Diverted; General Physical Injury / Incapacitation
Human Factors
When we showed up for our flight our X flight attendant was not there. He ended up arriving 1 1/2 hours past our report time. When he boarded the plane he was very disheveled and mad. He said he was mad at scheduling for giving him the wrong time. He then started to get emotional and cry. He went from angry to crying several times. I assumed he was acting this way because he'd been thrown off from being late. We immediately started boarding and he was at his boarding door. After we took off he started acting more erratic. He was pacing back and forth in the back of the cabin and was acting strange. When we tried to talk to him he wouldn't look at us. He kept unwrapping and chewing gum and then spitting it out and doing it again. He went out to do service with Flight Attendant Y and I did my service in the back of the cabin. After service he came back to the back and sat down on the jump seat. He would go between being passed out and snoring on the jumpseat and then waking up jerking around and saying weird things. He then would jump up and start opening and slamming the carts shut. He was acting crazy. We knew he was on something. The passengers in [rear cabin] started asking us what was going on and if we needed help. Flight Attendant B decided to go talk to the Captain and he decided to land.We enlisted the off duty flight attendant to take over his position and sit in the jumpseat for landing. We also enlisted 2 non-rev passengers who were fairly big to sit with him. He had no idea we were even diverting until after the two other flight attendants; and myself had cleaned up the cabin and secured everything for landing. He was still in the back and was so out of it he thought we were landing [at our destination] until Flight Attendant Y told him he wasn't going to sit in his jumpseat. He got very angry. We landed and the medics came on-board to get him. After he was taken off the plane a passenger told the off duty flight attendant that he had thrown a trash bag in the overhead compartment by his suitcase earlier. She contacted the Captain and he came back and got the bag.
Flight Attendant reported one of her colleagues was late to the flight and acting very emotionally and strange through the flight. The flight diverts to remove the Flight Attendant.