NEED TO KNOW
Flight attendants on a recent Delta Air Lines flight allegedly used a beverage cart to trap an unruly passenger causing a disturbance on board
The incident occurred on Jan. 18, during a flight from Minneapolis to Tokyo, according to a criminal complaint obtained by PEOPLE
The 64-year-old passenger currently faces one count of interfering with flight crew and one count of assault
Delta Air Lines flight attendants allegedly used their beverage carts to block a disruptive passenger from exiting his seat, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
The alleged "Level 2" disturbance occurred on Saturday, Jan. 18 on a trip from Minneapolis to Tokyo, per a criminal complaint filed in the U.S. District Court of Alaska.
According to an affidavit by FBI special agent Katie Yarborough, she received multiple Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) notifications that the "flight crew reported an unruly passenger" indicating the man was "walking around the aisle of the aircraft" and "had become verbally abusive" toward the crew, eventually forcing an unplanned landing at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport in Alaska.
There, the FBI agent says she "immediately boarded the plane and handcuffed and removed the suspect," who was identified as a 64-year-old male.
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According to interviews with one flight attendant, the passenger was allegedly "stumbling, unable to find his seat and was not speaking coherently" as he boarded the plane in Minneapolis. Another flight attendant claimed they thought "that he was having symptoms of dementia due to his age."
According to the report, at one point, the man got out of his seat, stepped over the armrest and "used his right arm to forcibly push [a female flight attendant] all the way from row 49 to the rear of the cabin."
Two male flight attendants reportedly put their hands on the passenger's shoulders to separate him from the alleged victim. The man yelled he was going to sue them before the flight attendants were able to escort him back to his seat, per the affidavit.
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But the disruption didn't end there.
A while later, the passenger reportedly got up again and made his way towards the first-class section of the plane. Flight attendants then brought him back and "used their beverage carts to block the aisle so that he could not get up again," Yarborough writes.
The complaint states flight crews ultimately believed the man "would not comply with the orders of the flight crew and feared another incident would occur in the approximately six hours left in the air." The captain decided to land the plane out of an abundance of caution, per the affidavit.
A Delta spokesperson tells PEOPLE crews reported a "potential medical issues involving a customer" and confirmed law enforcement and EMS met the aircraft and the customer was "transported to a local medical facility."
A representative for the FBI field office in Anchorage confirmed the incident to PEOPLE and deferred to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska, who did not offer a comment.
The passenger was formally indicted on Jan. 20 and arrested on Jan. 23, according to court records. The 64-year-old currently faces one count of interfering with flight crew and one count of assault against the flight attendant. An initial arraignment and detention hearing is set for Jan. 26, according to court documents.
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In a motion to quash the arrest warrant, the defense says Yarborough informed the court that a doctor at the hospital was overheard informing that the patient's "CT scan had revealed tumors that had metastasized in his brain, which could have caused the symptoms [the passenger] exhibited on the plane." The motion further argued it would be "extremely inappropriate, unnecessary and inhumane" for the defendant to "be thrown into jail" amid his "extremely serious medical condition."
The motion was ultimately denied on Jan. 23.
The passenger's attorney, Gretchen Staft, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.
Read the original article onPeople
