Guy Who Jumped Out of Plane at LAX Hears His Fate

Mexican national Luis Armando Victoria Dominguez will see 18 months behind bars in federal prison
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 29, 2021 9:40 AM CDT
Updated Jan 27, 2022 10:30 AM CST
Guy Who Jumped From Plane Allegedly Smoked 'a Lot' of Meth
The man jumped from this plane, seen with its emergency slide deployed at Los Angeles International Airport.   (YouTube/KTTV)

Update: A Mexican national who jumped out of a plane at Los Angeles International Airport last summer has found out the consequences of his actions. KTLA reports that a judge on Wednesday sentenced Luis Armando Victoria Dominguez, 34, to 18 months in federal prison for the incident in June, in which Dominguez was said to have opened an emergency door on a United Airlines plane as it was taxiing and jumped onto the tarmac, apparently breaking his leg in the process. A statement from the US Attorney's Office notes that Dominguez also assaulted a flight attendant, per the AP. Dominguez, who pleaded guilty in October to one count of interference with flight crew members, could have seen up to 20 years behind bars. He was also ordered Wednesday to pay $20,000 in restitution. Our original story from July 2021 follows:

The man who jumped from a moving plane at Los Angeles International Airport on Friday not only broke his leg—he's now facing up to two decades in federal prison. Mexican national Luis Armando Victoria Dominguez allegedly told authorities he'd spent the previous days smoking "a lot" of crystal meth, which might be why he missed two earlier flights to Salt Lake City on Thursday and Friday, reports the Washington Post. The 33-year-old had arrived in Los Angeles on a flight from Cabo San Lucas on Tuesday, initially planning to take a bus to Utah. But after smoking the meth, he decided to fly instead, according to the US attorney's office for the Central District of California. When he finally boarded United Airlines Flight 5365 ahead of its 6:30pm departure time, he "was coming down from all the drugs he had used ... and immediately started to doze off," per the complaint.

That's when Dominguez heard passengers behind him "talking about the flight going to a different city than Salt Lake City," per the complaint. He panicked, telling the woman seated next to him that he planned to jump out, per the Post. He "sprinted" to the front of the plane, "began banging on the cockpit door and manipulating the locked doorknob," then opened the front right emergency exit, deploying the emergency slide as the plane was taxiing, according to the complaint and an FBI affidavit, per KCBS. He made it out the door, despite a passenger's attempt to hold him by the collar, but he missed the slide, breaking his right leg in the fall to the tarmac, before attempting to crawl away. Dominguez, who later underwent surgery, is to appear in court this week. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison on a charge of interfering with the flight crew. (More weird crimes stories.)

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