Passenger threatening to ‘tear the plane apart’ causes flight to land early, feds say
A New York man faces up to 20 years in prison after his threatening comments to flight attendants and passengers — including his wife — made a plane land early in Virginia, federal officials said.
James Ford, 31, pleaded guilty to interference with a flight crew during a nonstop JetBlue flight May 13, 2023, the United States Attorney’s Office Eastern District of Virginia said in a Dec. 3 news release.
While traveling from Puerto Rico to New York, Ford made flight crew members and passengers feel unsafe with lewd and threatening comments — including telling a flight attendant he “wished to punch her in the face and shoot her,” according to court documents.
But Ford doesn’t remember much of the flight at all because he was intoxicated, court documents said.
McClatchy News reached out to Ford’s attorney Dec. 4 but did not receive an immediate response.
Before the first beverage service, flight crew members smelled alcohol on the plane and made a general announcement reminding passengers it’s prohibited to drink personal alcohol while in flight, according to court records.
Crew members said that’s what sparked the disruptive behavior and it only escalated after flight attendants confronted Ford.
After making physical threats against a flight attendant, passengers informed crew members that Ford also said he brought a gun on the plane and threatened to “tear the plane apart,” court records said.
Moments later, when Ford’s wife tried to intervene and take a bottle of Hennessy away from him, he tried to strangle her and had to be separated by other passengers, according to court documents.
“Ford’s disruptive behavior, threats, and actions towards his wife forced the flight to divert from its intended destination of New York, landing instead in Richmond,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
Ford’s sentencing is scheduled for April 2, and he’s also agreed to pay JetBlue a restitution amount of $17,324.71, according to records.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 12:27 PM with the headline "Passenger threatening to ‘tear the plane apart’ causes flight to land early, feds say."
