A 36-year-old woman faces the threat of being spent in prison for 20 years after she pleaded guilty to lunging toward the flight controls of a small commercial flight during a short domestic hop from Billings to Havre, Montana.
Late last week, Tracy Lynn Eagleman pleaded guilty to interfering with an aircraft in flight which also carries the potential for a fine of up to $250,000 and three years of supervised release.
Prosecutors had alleged that Eagleman had first come to the attention of the pilots of the small commercial plane after she suddenly stood up and shouted shouting. The pilots were initially able to calm Eagleman down but as the plane was on final approach to landing, she allegedly lunged towards the flight controls.
The incident occurred aboard a Cape Air Cessna 402 twin-piston light aircraft, which carries just nine passengers and operates very short regional flights. Due to the small size of the aircraft, the cockpit is not separated from the cabin and there is no barrier to prevent passengers attempting to reach the flight controls.
Court documents alleged that during flight 1793 on March 21, 2023, Eagleman became agitated as the pilots were on final approach to Havre and managed to stand up in the cramped confines of the aircraft and started shouting.
With just 10 miles until touchdown, the Captain and First Officer were able to calm Eagleman down and continue their approach to Havre but just moments before the plane was to touchdown, Eagleman suddenly lunged out of her seat and hit the flight controls.
Eagleman hit the throttle of one of the two engines which caused the plane to suddenly accelerate and turn on the runway. At the time, the aircraft was speeding along the runway at around 75 knots which is around 80 miles per hour.
Despite Eagleman’s erratic behavior, the pilots were able to successfully regain control of the aircraft and stopped on the runway before eventually taxiing the plane to the terminal.
One of the other passengers onboard the flight managed to record cellphone footage of the moments after Eagelman’s lunge which captured the fear amongst everyone onboard with people heard screaming as the plane started to turn at high speed on the runway – a situation which is technically called ‘yawing’.
During the investigation, the pilots told prosecutors that yawing at such high speed could have caused the plane to roll and crash on the runway.
Cape Air operates as a Part 135 public air charter, which means that while it is required to verify a passenger’s ID before they can fly, the size of the aircraft it flies means that it doesn’t need to secure the flight deck.
Sentencing has been scheduled for December 11, 2024.
The passenger who took a video should be charged as an accessory for filming instead of helping to restrain the criminal.