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A passenger on an Alaska Airways flight faces federal interference expenses after he repeatedly tried to open the cabin door earlier this month.
19-year-old pupil pilot Nathan Jones was arrested March three after disrupting Flight 322 from San Diego to Washington Dulles Worldwide Airport thrice through the cross-country journey.
U.S. Air Marshal Thomas Pattinson filed a felony grievance in a Virginia district courtroom final week.
In accordance with the affidavit, Jones received up from his seat 6E and tried to achieve the entrance of the aircraft to enter the cockpit a number of occasions through the five-hour flight.
When requested by cabin crew why he wanted entry to the cabin, the grievance states Jones stated he was “testing” them.
The opposite passengers, together with off-duty legislation enforcement officers, “restrained Jones in versatile handcuffs and sat on both aspect of him,” and a beverage cart blocked the closed cabin for the rest of the flight.
Jones was banned from flying with Alaska Airways and stated the passenger “appeared confused” whereas making an attempt to enter the cabin “in a non-violent method.”
The flight landed safely at Dulles as scheduled and there have been no accidents.
Robert Lee Jenkins, Jones' lawyer, filed a movement Wednesday requesting a psychological competency listening to.
Jenkins stated CBS Information: “The accusations are utterly inconsistent with the life he has lived. He’s a younger man with no historical past of felony habits or violence.
“Right now, we’re very involved about his psychological well being and are working to deal with his wants. “We’re assured that in the long run it will likely be clear that Mr. Jones by no means meant to hurt or threaten anybody.”
The movement included a letter from a therapist, Anne Zalewski, who described that Jones had signs “indicative of great psychological sickness” in jail and wanted “a hospital stage of care to stabilize his altered psychological state.”
The detention listening to is scheduled for March 18. If he’s convicted of the flight interference cost, Jones may resist 20 years in jail.