Man Charged for Alleged Attempt to Open Door on American Airlines Flight

Nov. 30—A passenger on an American Airlines flight bound for Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport attempted to open a cabin door during the flight. Now he's been charged and faces up to 20 years in prison.

According to reports, Abdul-al-Jabbar Oloruntoba Olaiya engaged in an argument with a flight attendant aboard the Milwaukee-to-Dallas American Airlines Flight 1915 on Nov. 19. Olaiya allegedly told the flight attendant that he was "captain of this flight" and demanded to exit the Airbus A319, which was in its initial descent into the DFW Metropolex. Olaiya then allegedly lunged for a door and hit the flight attendant. At that point, multiple passengers restrained Olaiya, using duct tape to bind his hands and feet.

"It was kind of a fight or flight situation," passenger Charlie Boris told KDFW in Dallas. "And everyone just really helped and put together effort, and we all get to go to Thanksgiving."

The passengers kept Olaiya on the floor all the way through landing, about 30 minutes in total, according to reports. The flight landed as planned at DFW, which is one of American's hubs (American is headquartered in Fort Worth).

The FBI escorted Olaiya off the plane, and the Federal Aviation Administration opened an investigation. On Tuesday, Olaiya was arrested and charged with interfering with a flight crew by assault or intimidation. If convicted, Olaiya faces up to 20 years in prison.

Olaiya is expected back in court on Dec. 3. He has reportedly been in the custody of law enforcement since the incident.

The midair incident comes about two months after another unruly passenger situation on a similar flight. American flight AA1733, traveling the same Milwaukee-to- Dallas route on Sept. 3, was diverted to Tulsa, Okla., when a passenger who was caught vaping got into an argument with a flight attendant. According to some reports, the passenger became aggressive. Regardless, vaping is prohibited on flights. The passenger was taken off the flight in Tulsa.

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