Passenger accused of trying to open cockpit, punching flight attendant charged, feds say
A 21-year-old man accused of entering a plane’s cockpit during a flight and then punching a flight attendant was indicted this week by a federal grand jury in Washington, federal prosecutors said.
Ryan Cajimat, 21, of Kapolei, Hawaii, faces chargesof interference with flight crew members and attendants and assault within a special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Nov. 18.
On a December 2020 Delta Air Lines flight from Honolulu to Seattle, Cajimat tried to open the plane’s cockpit two hours before the aircraft landed, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a news release.
When flight attendants tried to restrain him, he punched one in the face two times, according to the release.
He was restrained for the rest of the flight.
Delta Air Lines banned Cajimat from traveling on its airline. The Federal Aviation Administration also fined him $52,500.
Interference with the flight crew members can result in a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a $250,000 fine, the release states.
This story was originally published October 29, 2021 at 6:27 PM with the headline "Passenger accused of trying to open cockpit, punching flight attendant charged, feds say."
