ANKARA: Fighter jets escorted an American Airlines flight on its way to Honolulu on Friday after a disturbance aboard the aircraft. Initial reports suggested a man tried to break into the cockpit, but passengers on the flight said he was blocked by a flight attendant before entering the first-class cabin. The man was subdued by the crew member and passengers, who duct-taped him to a seat in the back of the plane. Federal law enforcement officials detained the man after the plane landed at Honolulu International Airport at 11:35 a.m. local time. No injuries were reported. The man, 25-year-old Anil Uskanil of Turkey, was arrested on a charge of misdemeanor trespassing. Authorities said he had been drinking. “The flight attendants just were really heroic,” said Lee Lorenzen, a passenger on the flight. “By the time we landed and the FBI took him into custody, he was very mellow.” Other passengers said Uskanil looked “sluggish” and “out of place.” Mark and Donna Basden said that before the plane took off, Uskanil took a laptop with him as he tried to sit in first class. A flight attendant told him to return to the back of the plane.
Laptops on flights have been in the news in recent days as U.S. and European officials discussed potentially banning them in airplane cabins over worries that terrorists might use them to bring explosives aboard aircraft. A pair of fighter jets was scrambled by U.S. Pacific Command to escort the American Airlines plane while the nature of the threat was unknown. Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly was briefed on the incident, according to the department. The agency said Friday evening there were no other reports of disruptions aboard the aircraft and it will “continue to monitor all flights out of an abundance of caution.” American spokesman Ross Feinstein said the airline is in communication with federal law enforcement and directed further inquiries to the FBI. “Due to a disturbance during the flight, the crew requested that law enforcement meet the aircraft upon landing in Honolulu,” Feinstein said in a statement. American Flight 31 departed from Los Angeles on Friday morning carrying 181 passengers and six crew members.
