JetBlue passenger attempts to breach cockpit.
An unruly JetBlue passenger was arrested for allegedly choking a female flight attendant with her necktie as he tried to storm his way into the plane’s cockpit.
Flight B6261 from Boston to San Juan, Puerto Rico was approximately one-hour from its destination, when Khalil El Dahr reportedly became agitated after a cell phone call he tried to make did not go through.
El Dahr began yelling that he wanted to be shot in Spanish and Arabic as he got out of his seat and rushed toward the flight deck.
When a flight attendant tried to stop him, he reportedly choked her with her necktie as he kicked the crew member in the chest.
“El Dhar observed the door open and then grabbed the JetBlue [flight attendant] by their collar and tie with one hand while using his other hand to grab the overhead compartment to gain leverage to kick,” the affidavit FBI states.
“As the JetBlue [flight attendant] was kicked in the chest, El Dhar yelled for the flight crew officer to shoot him.”
Authorities said El Dhar was grabbing the tie so hard that at one point the flight attendant was unable to breathe.
He was then restrained by six or seven crew members, using “makeshift restraints,” including the flight attendant’s tie used by El Dhar.
Upon landing in San Juan, he was arrested for interference with flight crew members and attendants, which is considered a federal offense.
El Dahr, who is still in custody, is expected to face multiple charges.
FBI Public Affairs Officer Limary Cruz-Rubio told The Washington Post that the FBI continues to investigate the situation and takes the incident “very seriously.”
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