Unruly Northridge Passenger Subdued With A Coffee Pot Mid-Flight

NORTHRIDGE-CHATSWORTH, CA — An American Airlines flight heading from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., was diverted to Kansas City on Sunday afternoon after a passenger tried to enter the cockpit and then tried to open an exit door, authorities said.

The American Airlines flight was headed from Los Angeles International Airport to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the FBI's Kansas City office said in a statement Sunday afternoon. The flight was diverted to Kansas City International Airport due to an "unruly passenger interfering with the flight crew."

The suspect in custody, Remberto Rivas, is a 50-year-old man from Northridge, according to the Associated Press. He was charged Monday with one count of interference with a flight attendant with no date set for his pending detention hearing, the Associated Press reported.

American Airlines told The New York Times that a passenger on Flight 1775 was "ultimately subdued" by flight crew with the help of other passengers. The plane landed safely in Kansas City, and law enforcement officials met the plane.

Witnesses told The Times there was a struggle between flight attendants and a passenger at the front of the plane. Passenger Mouaz Moustafa told The Times a flight attendant ran to the back of the plane, grabbed a coffee pot and bashed the unruly passenger on the head. He was "bleeding profusely," Moustafa added.

Video posted on Twitter by Moustafa showed passengers holding the unruly passenger down in the aisle.

"Passengers held the individual and a flight attendant used a coffee pot to subdue him as the plane descended rapidly," he tweeted. "The man was bleeding as the police in this video are taking him off the flight after landing in Kansas #AA1775."

Moustafa said the plane felt like it was free-falling and that many feared the worst because they didn't know what was happening.

In a second video, the pilot tells Moustafa they were about 40 minutes from the Kansas City airport when the struggle ensued. In response to a question about what happened, the pilot said the passenger tried to open the exit door and the cockpit door.