An airliner was forced to carry out an emergency evacuation after it landed at New York's LaGuardia Airport on Saturday because of an unruly passenger, the airline said.

An Embraer E-175 with 78 passengers and four crew members aboard en route to New York from Indianapolis "declared an emergency" toward the end of the flight and landed at LaGuardia without incident, Republic Airways said in a statement. 

Upon exiting the active runway, the plane stopped on a taxiway and conducted a "precautionary emergency evacuation."

The passenger in question was taken into custody.

A spokesperson for Republic Airways gave no details on the passenger's behavior. Contacted by AFP, the New York airport authority did not immediately respond.