A man who tried to open the main cabin door of an American Airlines plane flying to Dallas Fort Worth last week has been charged with interfering with a flight attendant and will remain in custody until his next appearance in court on December 3.
29-year-old Abdul-al-Jabbar Oloruntoba Olaiya was initially taken to a mental health facility following the terrifying incident aboard American Airlines flight AA1915 on November 19 but has since been remanded into the custody of law enforcement.
Prosecutors allege that during American Airlines flight AA1915 from Milwaukee, Olaiya caused a Level 3 disturbance aboard the Airbus A319 airplane when he attempted to push past a flight attendant and tried to open an emergency exit while the plane was cruising at 36,000 feet.
According to an affidavit filed in federal court, Olaiya had become angry with the flight attendant who was working alone in the forward galley and told her that he “was the Captain of this flight” and that he “needed to get off the plane.”
Olaiya then allegedly charged at the flight attendant in an attempt to get to the emergency exit. The flight attendant used her body to shield the door from Olaiya as he attempted to fight his way past her.
Several passengers came running to the assistance of the flight attendant’s screams for help and helped the crew duct tape Olaiya’s wrists and ankles.
The incident occurred with just 30 minutes left of the two-hour flight, and as the pilots had already started the initial descent when they were alerted to what was going on, they decided to continue onto Dallas Fort Worth, where law enforcement was waiting to meet the plane.
The flight attendant sustained injuries to her wrist and neck during the struggle with Olaiya.
Duct tape has become a fairly common but controversial restraint device aboard US commercial airliners, especially when you consider that major carriers like American Airlines have specialist restraint equipment like flexicuffs onboard all their planes.
In 2021, United Airlines even ordered flight attendants that they must not use duct tape to restrain unruly passengers and instead rely on the equipment supplied by the airline.
Some flight attendants pack duct tape with them for quick fixes in the cabin, meaning that it is often on hand when a disruptive passenger incident flares up.
In the same year that United Airlines told its flight attendants not to use duct tape as a restraint device, a woman was famously duct taped to her seat, with duct tape also used as a gag, during an American Airlines flight to Charlotte.
Earlier this year, the FAA commenced legal proceedings against the suspect, Heather E. Wells, in an attempt to force her to pay $81,950 in unpaid civil penalties for her violent outburst.
