Passenger accused of opening plane door, assaulting attendant going to prison, feds say
A passenger accused of assaulting a fight attendant and attempting to open the cabin door during a United Airlines flight has been sentenced to prison, federal prosecutors said.
Kameron C. Stone, from Fairfax, Virginia was sentenced to one year in prison on charges of “interfering with flight crew and assault by striking and wounding in special aircraft jurisdiction,” according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
United Airlines and Stone’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from McClatchy News on May 2.
During an April 16, 2021, flight from Dulles International Airport in Virginia to Pensacola International Airport in Florida, passengers said the now 30-year-old was acting “loud and obnoxious” and smelled “strongly of alcohol,” court documents obtained by McClatchy News show.
Prosecutors said the man was harassing other passengers and making “fingers guns,” using his hands as pistols pretending to shoot people, according to a February story by McClatchy News.
After one of the flight attendants repeatedly asked Stone to remain seated and to wear his seat belt, the passenger reportedly reached for the cockpit door saying “I’m trying to get out of here.”
As the flight began its descent to Florida, the man tried to reach the door again, so the flight attendant blocked the cabin and cockpit doors, prosecutors said. Stone is accused of grabbing the flight attendant’s shoulders, pushing her and shoving her into the galley wall so he could open the main cabin door.
The woman hit her head and arm in the process, court documents show.
“During the altercation, Stone successfully breached the main cabin door to the external portion of the plane, triggering the alarm and causing the pilots to declare an emergency with the Federal Aviation Administration,” according to the news release.
The flight attendant had to grab Stone’s hand to prevent him from fully opening the door and screamed for help, court documents show.
Prosecutors said mini-alcohol bottles fell out of the men’s pockets during the altercation.
Stone later said that he had one or two alcoholic beverages before boarding the plane and drank the three small bottles of vodka once on board, according to court documents. He also said he wanted to apologize for the incident.
Three passengers — including an off-duty U.S. Marshal — restrained Stone for the remainder of the flight, court documents state, until law enforcement met the flight at its arrival gate.
Following his one-year prison sentence, Stone faces three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay civil penalties issued by the Transportation Security Administration and a $7,500 fine, according to the release.
“I hope this case and prison sentence will serve as a warning to anyone who would threaten the safety of those who work or travel in our skies,” Chris Williams, special agent in charge with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement in Pensacola, said in the news release.
This story was originally published May 2, 2022 at 4:10 PM with the headline "Passenger accused of opening plane door, assaulting attendant going to prison, feds say."
