An Alaska Airlines flight from San Francisco to Chicago was forced to make an emergency diversion to Kansas City on Thursday night after a passenger allegedly fell asleep in one of the onboard lavatories before threatening to kill a flight attendant.
Alaska Airlines flight AS-456 departed San Francisco International Airport at around 11:21 pm on Thursday after a short delay but was forced to divert to Kansas City around two and a half hours into the flight.
Chloe M. Dasilva, 32, was hauled off the Boeing 737MAX aircraft by local enforcement and has been held in custody, charged with one count of interfering with flight crew members.
If found guilty, Dasilva faces a maximum penalty of 20 years imprisonment, as well as a $250,000 fine.
In an affidavit filed in the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, an FBI agent who attended the scene says several passengers onboard the red-eye flight to Chicago O’Hare heard Dasilva threaten to kill a male flight attendant.
In police interviews, the flight attendants who were working the flight say they noticed that Dasilva was acting “odd” before the flight even departed San Francisco and at one point she even stood up and demanded to know when the flight was leaving.
The crew were alerted to keep an eye on Dasilva, and once airborne, she asked to switch seats. As it was a full flight, the flight attendants couldn’t offer her an alternative seat, and sometime later she went to the lavatory at the back of the plane for an “extended period of time”.
Flight attendants checked on her welfare after they heard loud bangs from inside the lavatory and on unlocking and opening the door, they found Dasilva sleeping in the lavatory.
The crew decided to leave Dasilva in the lavatory, but she eventually came out and banged on the overhead lockers before returning to her seat.
Worried about her behavior, the flight attendants decided to keep guard as one of the pilots requested to take a bathroom break. At this point, Dasilva allegedly walked after one of the male flight attendants and said: “If you don’t leave me alone, I’ll f**king kill you.”
Another passenger heard Dasilva yell at the top of her lungs: “I’m going to kill you unless you land the plane right now”, and another heard her say to the flight attendant: “You’re the devil”.
The pilot in command authorized the flight attendants to restrain Dasilva using zip ties, and she was taken back to her seat, where she remained calm but in a “creepy” way.
One of the passengers said they were very disturbed by the incident and feared Dasilva might have a weapon on her. The Captain decided to divert the flight because he feared for the safety of the flight attendants and passengers.
Once DaSilva was removed, the flight departed once again for Chicago, where it landed nearly two hours late.
