News
Breanna Robinson
Jul 01, 2022
Video
An American Airlines passenger faces up to 20 years in prison for admitting jumping onto a beverage cart and trying to strip, which caused the plane divert.
On Thursday, Adam Alexander Williams from Washington state pleaded guilty to interference with flight members and attendants. This was more than five months after causing a flight from Seattle to Charlotte, North Carolina, to land in Billings, Montana, as stated in the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana.
Williams will face sentencing at another time. Accompanied by prison time, he also faces a $25,000 fine and three years of supervised release.
As evidenced in court documents, Williams was traveling to North Carolina on January 9 when his behavior “turned erratic and escalated” mid-flight.
Yelling at no one in particular, Williams reportedly said, “Where is Jamie Sanders?”
Sign upfor our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
He also jumped over passengers in his row and onto a beverage cart present in the aisle.
“As he came off of the cart, he almost landed on a flight attendant and pushed her into a seat, knocking drinks and cups to the ground,” the records said before adding that he ran down the aisle of the plane.
Prosecutors also noted that a flight attendant had calmed Williams down and escorted him back to his seat.
“About 10 minutes later, Williams began to act up again and screamed an obscenity,” the documents alleged.
The other attendants then decided to place many US Marines who were on the same flight, in seats around Williams as a precaution.
But not too long after, Williams began to scream and remove his clothing.
The captain of the aircraft turned the plane around and landed in Billings so that Williams could be removed.
Williams has been released from custody, and his sentence hearing is scheduled for October 20.
As of June 28, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) noted that there had been 1,562 reports of disorderly passengers, of which 520 called for investigations.
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
Top 100
The Conversation (0)