Unruly JetBlue Passenger Charged With Attacking Fellow Travelers, Flight Attendant

Another day, another unruly passenger allegedly stirring up trouble on an airplane: authorities say a man had four alcoholic drinks on a JetBlue flight on Sunday, and ended up being charged with assaulting crew members and a fellow passenger.

Officials with the Federal Bureau of Investigation say the man got into a fight with another traveler, got out of his seat and put his fellow passenger in a headlock during a flight from Washington, D.C. to Jacksonville, FL on Sunday, reports FOX 30 News.

According to the criminal complaint, the passenger returned to his seat after a flight attendant told him to do so, but then tried to exit the plane while it was still in flight, the report said.

He claimed he was a federal air marshal and and that the flight crew was under investigation, the FBI’s report said, and pushed a flight attendant who tried to stop him from accessing an exit door, as well as kneeing the crewmember in the groin.

“He was just being a really drunk, rude, ignorant person,” another passenger told the news station.

Two flight attendants, with the help of volunteers, restrained the man and put him in flex cuffs for the remainder of the flight, while he continued to “act in a belligerent fashion” and had to be watched during landing, according to officials.

The plane landed safely, and the man was removed from the flight by airport police. He’s now been charged with assault or intimidation of a flight crew.

“On January 31, a customer disagreement occurred on JetBlue flight 716 while en route from DCA to JAX,” JetBlue told FOX 30 in a statement. “Authorities met the aircraft after it landed safely in Jacksonville.”

FBI: Unruly passenger had four drinks, assaulted flight crew members [FOX 30]

by Mary Beth Quirk via Consumerist