A passenger on an American Airlines flight has been charged with making a terroristic threat, causing the flight to divert Thursday morning, officials say.
Jerry Nguyen, 24, is jailed in Lubbock County, Texas, after he allegedly began banging on the cockpit door on Flight 2542 from Ontario, California, to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.
Another passenger on the plane told NBC 5 the man was acting strange and suddenly got out of his seat, went to the cockpit and began yelling. Flight attendants tried to calm the man, but then several nearby passengers forced the man to the ground and held him.
The Boeing 737 landed in Lubbock at 5:17 a.m. Passengers said police escorted the man off the plane.
Airline officials said the remaining 142 passengers and one infant departed on a flight from Lubbock about an hour later. The flight arrived at D/FW Airport at 7:12 a.m.
Nguyen, of San Jose, California, did not have an attorney listed with his booking information Thursday afternoon.
