American Airlines Passenger Who Punched Attendant, Said Plane Was Hijacked, Faces Prison

An American Airlines passenger, who reportedly punched a flight attendant on March 2, might get 20 years in prison, according to a criminal complaint filed in the federal court.

According to the complaint, shortly after the flight – which was flying from Florida, to Dallas, Texas – took off, Colby Isaac Hilleary, 24, rushed up to a flight attendant in the front of the aircraft and started saying that the plane had no pilots" and was "going the wrong way."

Hilleary became "increasingly agitated" despite efforts from the flight attendant to "address his concerns and calm him down,” the complaint stated.

The flight attendant tried to get Hilleary back into his seat by assuring him that the latter might just be confused because the flight was flying over water at the time. The flight would soon be heading toward Dallas, the attendant told him, which did temporarily calm Hilleary down, but he continued to act in a "disruptive" and "erratic" manner.

At one point, the flight attendant even asked Hilleary if he was on drugs and the latter denied he was under the influence of any substance.

Next, Hilleary claimed "the plane has been hijacked," and jumped up from his seat. The flight attendant went up to his seat and firmly told him that he was not making any sense.

According to the investigators, Hilleary punched the flight attendant in the face, yelling, "I am running the show." The attendant’s wife and other passengers on the flight helped restrain Hilleary.

After the captain was informed of the situation, he declared a level three emergency and diverted the plane to Tampa International Airport, Florida, where Hilleary was arrested by the police. A level three emergency describes “an event that involves significant risk to passenger life and safety.”

"We are grateful to our professional pilots and flight attendants for acting quickly and working together to ensure the safety of everyone onboard the flight during this unfortunate incident," American Airlines spokeswoman Kristen Foster said.

Hilleary was later released from custody on a $10,000 bond but barred from air travel. He appeared in court on Tuesday, where he was charged with interfering with the duties of a flight attendant by assault and intimidation, which violates Title 49, United States Code, Section 46504. If he is convicted, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, Insider reported.

He was also ordered by a magistrate to undergo psychiatric evaluation and medication monitoring.

In a similar incident, a Southwest Airlines flight from Nashville, Tennessee to Tampa, Florida, was diverted to Birmingham, Alabama, in December 2017, after an unruly passenger got physical with a flight attendant on the flight.

In that case, however, the disruptive passenger was arrested before he could hurt any of the passengers or crew on board.