Man subdued after allegedly trying to breach cockpit on American Airlines flight to Honolulu
HONOLULU (WTVD) -- A man was subdued after he tried to breach the cockpit of an American Airlines flight to Honolulu, a source familiar with the situation told ABC News.
American Airlines said in a statement that law enforcement met the plane upon landing in Honolulu following a "disturbance" on the flight. The plane was escorted by two F-22 fighter jets for the duration of the flight following the disturbance, U.S. Pacific Command said in a statement.
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A source at the TSA told ABC News that the man was waiting for the bathroom near the cockpit when a flight attendant asked him to sit down. He had a laptop with him and appeared to try the cockpit door before he was subdued, the source said.
The man has been detained, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement. The DHS is continuing to monitor all flights "out of an abundance of caution," it said.
Law enforcement is now responding to analyze a suspicious item associated with the man, a source told ABC News.
Flight 31 from Los Angeles landed safely at 11:35 a.m. local time, according to American Airlines. All passengers are off the plane and safe, and operations at the airport have resumed as normal.
A total of 181 passengers and six crew members were on board, according to the airline.
Passengers on an American Airlines flight to Honolulu say a man detained by the FBI had exhibited odd behavior before the flight even left Los Angeles
Los Angeles Airport Police identified the man as 25-year-old Anil Uskanil, who arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing at Los Angeles International Airport. He was given a date to appear in court and released for his flight to Honolulu.
"The flight attendants just were really heroic," Passenger Lee Lorenzen said. "By the time we landed and the FBI took him into custody, he was very mellow."
Passengers Mark and Donna Basden of Albuquerque, New Mexico, sat down in their first-class seats, and Mark found a laptop in the seat pocket. A flight attendant suspected it belonged to Uskanil, who was in the bathroom.
Basden returned it to the man when he came out. Basden says the man scowled at him, opened and closed the laptop computer and then sat in a different seat. A flight attendant asked to see his boarding pass, and then escorted Uskanil back to row 35.
The Basdens say everything was fine until midway through the flight. That's when Uskanil, now apparently wearing a towel or blanket over his head and with his laptop in his hand, was trying to get into the first-class cabin. A flight attendant had blocked the doorway with her serving cart.
Uskanil was subdued for the rest of the flight and arrested in Honolulu when the plane landed with a military escort. The FBI says it is interviewing him.
ABC News and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
