A New Jersey man has been accused of extremely unruly and inappropriate behavior during a flight from Seattle, Washington, to Dallas, Texas, on July 18.
On Wednesday, a federal grand jury indicted the passenger who allegedly caused the ruckus while onboard the aircraft, according to the United States District Attorney’s Office District of Utah.
The suspect, identified as 26-year-old Eric Nicholas Gapco, was onboard American Airlines flight number 2101 and has been accused of assaulting and intimidating a flight attendant and crew members. The agency continued:
As a result of Gapco’s alleged unruly behavior, the flight, which originated from Seattle, Washington, and was en route to Dallas, Texas, was diverted to Salt Lake City International Airport. As alleged in the complaint and detention memo, Gapco failed to follow instructions to remain in his seat, propositioned a flight attendant for sex, was repeatedly loud, vaped, bothered other passengers, locked himself in the lavatory, and attempted to open the aircraft exterior doors multiple times while the aircraft was in flight. As a result, Gapco was restrained by flight crew members and other passengers with flexible restraints to his feet and hands during the flight. Upon landing he was arrested by law enforcement at Salt Lake City International Airport.
Video footage shows crew members and passengers moving around inside the plane as Gapco screams from inside the locked lavatory, KSL reported on Thursday.
At one point, the shirtless suspect is heard saying, “I am sane! I am sane!” He is eventually led out of the bathroom with his hands tied.
NJ man goes berserk on flight, tries to have sex with attendant, open plane door while shouting ‘I am sane!’: feds https://t.co/f1Ey2qcP9J pic.twitter.com/lSA7j6labI
— New York Post (@nypost) August 1, 2024
Social media users shared their thoughts on the incident, one person writing, “Happened on American Airlines? I thought this would be something that would happen on Spirit. Learn something new everyday.”
“Sounds like a normal AA flight,” another user commented.
Officials charged Gapco with interference with a flight crew and attempted damage to an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.
Similarly, in December, several people restrained a distraught man during a flight from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to Miami, Florida, while he yelled for someone to help him and claimed, “They’re killing me” in Spanish.
