Unruly Passenger Arrested for Charging Cockpit, Choking Flight Attendant

A passenger on a JetBlue flight is facing federal charges after he allegedly charged the cockpit of a plane demanding to be shot and then choked an attendant with his tie before being restrained.

According to CBS Boston, Federal Bureau of Investigation officials said JetBlue Flight 261 was en route from Boston Logan International Airport to Luis Munoz Marín International Airport in San Juan, Puerto Rico, when the unruly passenger incident occurred.

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Investigators said a male passenger identified as Khalil El Dahr attempted to make a cellphone call with about 30 minutes left in the journey, but became enraged when the call was unsuccessful.

Crew members told the FBI that El Dahr charged rushed toward the cockpit while shouting in “Spanish and Arabic” that he wanted to be shot. A flight attendant moved the man back into the passenger area, but the unruly passenger grabbed him by the tie and started to choke him.

El Dahr then kicked the flight attendant in the chest and demanded the pilot of the flight shoot him. Several crew members jumped into action and restrained the disruptive traveler to a seat with “four seat-belt extenders, a new pair of flex cuffs and a uniform neck tie.”

Once the JetBlue plane landed in San Juan, police officers boarded and arrested El Dahr on felony charges of interfering with a flight crew.

Officials from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said that more than 4,300 unruly passenger incidents have been reported thus far in 2021.