Drunk JetBlue passenger who threatened to shoot flight attendant pleads guilty
A New York man pleaded guilty on Tuesday after his threats to "tear the plane apart" while drunk forced a JetBlue flight to divert last year, according to officials.
On May 13, 2023, James Tyqwon Ford, 31, was a passenger on JetBlue flight 2404, which had departed from San Juan, Puerto Rico, and was headed to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, according to the statement of facts filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia Richmond Division.
JetBlue did not provide comment to USA TODAY.
Before the first beverage service, flight crews reported smelling "the odor of alcohol" and "made a general announcement that passengers are prohibited from consuming personal alcohol" on the plane, according to the document.
During this time, Ford "began to exhibit disruptive behavior," including using profanity toward two flight attendants. One flight attendant told Ford he couldn't drink his own alcohol while onboard and warned the police would be called upon landing. He responded with "lewd comments" and said "the police would have to catch him first."
Later, Ford went to the rear galley and made physical threats against the second flight attendant, including that he wanted to punch her in the face and shoot her.
Other passengers reported to the flight crew that Ford was being disruptive and "making them fear for their safety," the document stated. He reportedly claimed to have brought a firearm onboard and would "tear the plane apart."
They also said they witnessed Ford drinking from a liquor bottle, which was found "mostly empty" near his seat.
Ford's wife tried to remove a bottle of Hennessy from the disruptive passenger, according to the document, which led to a physical altercation between the two. Other passengers stepped in "in order for her to escape to a different section of the aircraft."
Ford continued to threaten the flight attendants, saying his friends in New York would follow them to their hotel and "destroy them."
The flight diverted to Richmond International Airport in Richmond, Virginia, and was met by police who removed Ford from the plane. Once the plane arrived in New York, crew members were given new accommodations following Ford's threats.
According to the statement of facts, Ford said he was drunk and does not remember what happened during the flight.
Ford is scheduled for a hearing on April 2, and faces up to 20 years in prison for interfering with a flight crew, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia.
In 2023, there were 2,075 reports of unruly passengers, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. So far in 2024, there have been 1,921 reports.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Drunk passenger pleads guilty for threatening to shoot crew member
