Sleeping Passenger Attacked On Flight From San Francisco: FBI

SAN FRANCISCO — A man is in federal custody after prosecutors allege he attacked a fellow passenger who was asleep during a flight from San Francisco to Washington Dulles Airport in Virginia.

Federal prosecutors identified the man accused as Everett Nelson in a criminal complaint filed Tuesday.

According to a probable cause statement, the Transportation Security Administration notified the Federal Bureau of Investigation of a "Level 2 disturbance" underway aboard United Airlines Flight #2247 a few minutes before 12:30 p.m. Monday.

Roughly two hours into the flight, prosecutors allege Nelson left his seat in the back of the plane to use the restroom near the front. After leaving the bathroom, investigators said Nelson stopped at a seat and began repeatedly punching a sleeping man in the face and head, drawing blood and causing bruising.

Witnesses said the victim was deaf and non-verbal and appeared to be randomly targeted. Sandhya Gupta, a passenger seated behind the victim, described a harrowing scene to KGO.

"He was just very violently and very aggressively just pummeling the guy who was in the window seat who was in front of me, and it was vicious," Gupta said. "This wasn't like a barroom, I'm going to throw a couple of punches around, I mean, this was vicious."

According to court documents, the attack lasted nearly a minute before another passenger intervened and Nelson was moved to a seat near the front of the plane, where the passenger kept an eye on him, while a doctor on the flight treated the victim for several abrasions to the face and head, investigators said.

Nelson was arrested after the plane landed and remains in federal custody. The Federal Aviation Administration said it would complete a separate investigation, which could result in additional civil penalties.