A man who disrupted an American Airlines flight from the Los Angeles area, forcing it to make an unscheduled landing in Lubbock, Texas, has pleaded guilty to interfering with a flight crew.
Jerry Ba Nguyen could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison. No sentencing date has been set for the 24-year-old Las Vegas man.
The incident happened aboard a Sept. 22 flight from Ontario, California, to Dallas-Fort Worth. The Boeing 737 was carrying 143 passengers and six crew members.
Nguyen had behaved erratically since the start of the flight, but his banging and kicking on the cockpit door and suicidal statements finally forced fellow passengers to subdue him until an emergency landing could be made.
Nguyen has remained in custody since his arrest.