Since the horrific U.S. attack on Sept. 11, 2001, if there’s an unruly passenger aboard a flight, the flight crew and other passengers do what needs to be done to restrain the person until the pilots can safely land the plane.
A man reported that an unruly passenger got out of his seat and did a full-on sprint and crashed into the cockpit door, then he pounded on the door. When a petite flight attended tried to intervene, the 28-year-old male passenger ‘clocked’ her. That’s when other passengers got involved and controlled the man.
As the door opened to the gangway where several Port Authority officers waited to take the man into custody, he charged through the door and bowled over the officers. One officer suffered several broken ribs, medical staff treated and released the other injured officers and the flight attendant.
Officers arrested the passenger and charged him with aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, resisting arrest, and interfering with transportation. This was not his first brush with the law.
Rather than go to trial, the man pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with flight crew members and attendants. A U.S. District Court sentenced him to over 2 years in federal prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, and fined him $1,100.
On one of his social media profiles, prior to the flight incident, he had posted he worked in construction and wanted to learn how to fly multiple aircrafts. There wasn’t a report on why he charged the cockpit on the flight, but it’s highly likely that his federal conviction may render him ineligible to learn to fly.
Source: U.S. Department of Transportation, NJ.com True Jersey, Heavy, ABC News