Teenage passenger tries to storm cockpit three times

ALASKA DASH 8 Q402 N427QX (MSN 4156)  

A teenage passenger has allegedly tried to storm the cockpit on a cross country Alaska Airlines flight earlier this month. According to an affidavit filed by a Federal Air Marshal, 19-year-old Nathan Jones got out of his seat, 6A, and tried to open the cockpit door three separate times during a flight on the 3rd of March, which was travelling from San Diego (SAN/KSAN) to Dulles International Airport (IAD/KIAD) in Virginia.

On the third attempt, flight attendants “requested the assistance of off-duty law enforcement officers, who restrained Jones in flex cuffs and sat on either side of him for the remainder of the flight,” Pattinson reported.

The cockpit door was blocked by a beverage cart and a flight attendant stood guard until they safely landed. Jones, a student pilot, told flight attendants he was “testing them” when asked to explain his dangerous actions, according to the affidavit.

He was arrested and has since been charged with alleged interference with a flight crew, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years behind bars. After the plane landed, investigators found “multiple notebooks with writings describing how to operate an aircraft, including take-off, in-air and landing techniques,” Pattinson wrote in the affidavit.

The incident remains under investigation, the Federal Aviation Administration said.