Feds: Student Pilot Tried to Storm Cockpit 3 Times

Alaska Airlines flight attendant blocked door with a beverage cart
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 13, 2024 3:21 PM CDT
Man Allegedly Tried to Get Into Plane's Cockpit 3 Times
An Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-9 Max airplane takes off on a flight to San Diego in this file photo.   (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File)

After a 19-year-old student pilot tried to open a cockpit door on an Alaska Airlines flight three times, he was placed in flex cuffs and a flight attendant blocked the door with a beverage cart, according to an affidavit from a federal air marshal. Nathan Jones has been charged with interference with a flight crew, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years. But defense lawyer Robert Jenkins says Jones needs to be evaluated for mental competency before standing trial over the March 3 incident on Flight 322 from San Diego to Dulles, NBC News reports.

After Jones left his seat to go to the front of the plane multiple times, flight attendants "requested the assistance of off-duty law enforcement officers, who restrained Jones in flex cuffs and sat on either side of him for the remainder of the flight," the affidavit from Federal Air Marshal Thomas Pattinson states. It states that Jones told flight attendants he was "testing them." According to the affidavit, a search of Jones' belongings found "multiple notebooks with writings describing how to operate an aircraft, including take-off, in-air and landing techniques," along with a student pilot's license.

In a statement to CBS News, Jenkins said the charges have shocked Jones' mother and other relatives. "The allegations are completely inconsistent with the life he has lived. He is a young man without any history of criminal conduct or violence. At this stage we are acutely concerned with his mental health and are working to address his needs." Authorities at the Virginia jail where Jones is being held said he is on suicide watch and appears to be experiencing psychosis. "We have confidence that at the end it will be clear that Mr. Jones never intended to harm or threaten anyone," Jenkins said. (More unruly passenger stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X