Stanley Dwayne Sheffield (FBI) |
LOS ANGELES -- A Florida man is under arrest for trying to open a cabin door on a Delta Air Lines jetliner that was en route from Los Angeles to Tampa, according to the FBI.
Stanley Dwayne Sheffield, 46, was taken into federal custody after Delta flight 2148 was diverted to Albuquerque, N.M., early Friday morning, said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Darrin Jones of the Albuquerque FBI office.
Passengers on the flight say Sheffield, who was seated in first class, started to cause a disturbance, made threats and became disruptive about an hour and a half into the flight.
According to police, he allegedly got up and went to the bathroom where he damaged some property.
He came back from the bathroom, grabbed a bottle from the drink cart and began to spray the first class passengers.
He started yelling, "Get behind me Satan" to a flight attendant, according to the FBI.
The flight attendant tried to get Sheffield to return to his seat, however, he refused to do so and went to the front of the aircraft and attempted to open the cabin door, FBI officials said.
He then began to make threats to passengers saying "You need to land this plane or I'm going to blow it up" and 'I will blow this plane up and take you all with me," according to the affidavit in the case.
Passengers started to take action and subdue him.
It took seven passengers to get him into custody. He was treated for minor injuries that he sustained in the struggle and was turned over to the FBI.
The plane took off again a few hours later, and landed at 9 a.m. local time in Tampa.
Sheffield made his initial appearance in federal court in Florida Friday morning on charges of interference with flight crew members and destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities.
A motive for the outburst is unclear, officials said. The incident did not appear related to terrorism, according to the FBI.
They do not know if drugs or alcohol were involved.
Stanley Dwayne Sheffield, 46, was taken into federal custody after Delta flight 2148 was diverted to Albuquerque, N.M., early Friday morning, said FBI Supervisory Special Agent Darrin Jones of the Albuquerque FBI office.
Passengers on the flight say Sheffield, who was seated in first class, started to cause a disturbance, made threats and became disruptive about an hour and a half into the flight.
According to police, he allegedly got up and went to the bathroom where he damaged some property.
He came back from the bathroom, grabbed a bottle from the drink cart and began to spray the first class passengers.
He started yelling, "Get behind me Satan" to a flight attendant, according to the FBI.
The flight attendant tried to get Sheffield to return to his seat, however, he refused to do so and went to the front of the aircraft and attempted to open the cabin door, FBI officials said.
He then began to make threats to passengers saying "You need to land this plane or I'm going to blow it up" and 'I will blow this plane up and take you all with me," according to the affidavit in the case.
Passengers started to take action and subdue him.
It took seven passengers to get him into custody. He was treated for minor injuries that he sustained in the struggle and was turned over to the FBI.
The plane took off again a few hours later, and landed at 9 a.m. local time in Tampa.
Sheffield made his initial appearance in federal court in Florida Friday morning on charges of interference with flight crew members and destruction of aircraft or aircraft facilities.
A motive for the outburst is unclear, officials said. The incident did not appear related to terrorism, according to the FBI.
They do not know if drugs or alcohol were involved.
