UPDATE – The suspect was screaming “Allahu Akbar” as he stormed the front of the plane.
The suspect who tried rushing the cockpit of an American Airlines plane is placed on a stretcher after the plane landed in San Francisco. (NBC Bay Area)
A Yemeni man was tackled by crew members when he rushed the cockpit on a flight to San Francisco.
The AP reported:
Crew members and passengers wrestled a 28-year-old man to the cabin floor after he began pounding on the cockpit as an American Airlines flight approached San Francisco, the third security incident in a day on U.S. planes, authorities said Monday.
The man was yelling unintelligibly as he brushed past a flight attendant about 10 minutes before American Airlines Flight 1561 was due at San Francisco International Airport Sunday night, Sgt. Michael Rodriguez of the San Francisco police said.
A male flight attendant tackled the suspect, who carried a Yemen passport, and other crew members aided as the suspect banged on the cockpit door.
“He asked for help; a couple of passengers joined in,” Rodriguez told The Associated Press. “They were able to get him to ground and a flight attendant put him in plastic handcuffs.”
The Boeing 737 carrying 162 people landed safely at 9:10 p.m. and the man was taken into police custody.
He was identified as 28-year-old Rageit Almurisi. Though he carried a Yemen passport, it wasn’t clear if his nationality was also Yemeni, Rodgriguez said.