TRAVEL SICKO

JetBlue Passenger Storms Cockpit, Strangles Flight Attendant, Breaks Out of Restraints

The enraged passenger yelled for someone to shoot and kill him while strangling a flight attendant with his own tie, according to the FBI.

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A flight from Boston to San Juan landed Wednesday evening with one passenger restrained to a chair with multiple seatbelt extenders after an insane mid-air altercation, according to an FBI affidavit obtained by The Daily Beast. The passenger, a man named Khalil El Dahr, had attempted to make a phone call near the end of the flight and “became angry about the call’s unsuccess.” Roughly 45 minutes before landing, he pulled himself out of his seat and rushed towards the cockpit, yelling in Spanish and Arabic that someone should shoot and kill him.

El Dahr grappled with the flight attendant who attempted to intercept him, punching and kicking him in the chest, and strangling him with the attendant’s tie. It took “six or seven” crew members to restrain the passenger with plastic zip-tie handcuffs, but El Dahr somehow managed to break out of them. Another pair was used, in addition to at least four seat belt extenders (and, according to testimony, the flight attendant’s tie). Law enforcement met the plane upon its arrival in San Juan.