Passengers Subdue Man On Southwest Flight

[Gold9472]

Passengers subdue man on Southwest flight

Wednesday, January 26, 2005 Posted: 3:48 PM EST (2048 GMT)

Christopher Egyed was charged with interfering with a flight crew, said an FBI spokeswoman.

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- Passengers aboard a Southwest Airlines flight helped wrestle a fellow passenger to the floor Tuesday night after he tried to force his way into the cockpit, law enforcement officials said.

The incident happened aboard Flight 2161, which was traveling from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to West Palm Beach, Florida.

Christopher Egyed, 37, made "threatening comments about the government" and tried to make his way into the cockpit, Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office spokesman Paul Miller said.

"He had been acting in an obnoxious way throughout the flight," Miller said.

Egyed exchanged punches with a flight attendant before passengers joined the scuffle and subdued him, authorities said.

"They used duct tape to tie him up," FBI spokeswoman Judy Orijuela said.

Egyed was charged with interfering with a flight crew, she said.

The pilot did not declare an emergency, and the plane landed without further incident at 9:45 p.m. ET in West Palm Beach.

Egyed was taken into custody when the plane landed. Authorities said he is unemployed and lives in Philadelphia.

Egyed was scheduled to appear Wednesday in federal court in Fort Pierce, officials said. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 20 years behind bars.

[Simply_sexy]

Wow!! What did he think that he was going to do once he got in the cockpit? Punch the pilots as well??
*shakes head*

[danceyogamom]

20 years? I wonder how sober he was ...
Shouldn't airlines be somewhat responsible (in the same sense as a bartender being legally responsible for serving a customer) for the conduct of their passengers ...
And if we are so concerned with ongoing airline terrorism ... why aren't the airlines better equipped to deal with passengers who are unruly or potential threats? Duct tape doesn't sound very efficient ...