Colorado Man Arrested For Not Wearing Mask, Peeing In Flight Cabin; May Face $250K Fine

KEY POINTS

Landon Grier confessed to an FBI agent that he got drunk before boarding the flight
He swatted at a flight attendant when she asked him to put on his mask
FAA requires all travelers to wear face masks, while aboard an aircraft or at airports

A Colorado man, who disrupted the take-off of an Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Denver and urinated in the cabin, is facing a federal charge that carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison and a possible $250,000 fine.

The accused, Landon Grier, 24, made his first court appearance Thursday after he was detained and charged with interfering with a flight crew, NBC5 reported, citing an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Denver by an FBI special agent Martin Daniel III.

According to the affidavit, crew members said during an interrogation that Grier appeared to be trying to sleep but when a flight attendant repeatedly asked him to put on a mask, he swatted at her.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) requires all travelers to wear face masks both while aboard an aircraft and at airports to stem the spread of COVID-19.

The statement mentioned the fellow passengers informed the flight attendants Grier was urinating on his seat. When interrogated by Daniel, Grier admitted to being drunk before boarding the flight. Grier told Daniel he had downed several beers and “a couple of shots," and fell asleep on the plane. Grier said he "awoke to being yelled at by the flight attendants who told him he was peeing."

"He stated he had no recollection of hitting the flight attendant and didn’t know if he was peeing," according to NBC 5.

Grier was released on a $10,000 bond pending his next court appearance, which is scheduled for March 26, ABC-affiliated WWSB-TV reported.

"We will not tolerate any disturbance onboard our aircraft or at any of the airports we serve," Alaska Airlines said in a statement, according to Associated Press.

In August 2020, a violent brawl broke out onboard a KLM flight from Amsterdam to Ibiza after two passengers allegedly refused to wear masks. The passengers declined to wear a mask and started bothering fellow passengers. They were taken into custody as soon as the flight arrived at the destination airport.