Man attempts to storm cockpit, strangles and kicks flight attendant on JetBlue flight

A man attempted to storm the cockpit of a JetBlue flight on Wednesday night, then began kicking and suffocating flight crew members, according to an FBI affidavit.

With just over an hour remaining on the flight from Boston to San Juan, Puerto Rico, the man attempted to make a phone call and “got mad at the failure of the call,” he said. a flight attendant told the FBI. Thirty minutes later, he reportedly rushed to the cockpit shouting in Spanish and Arabic to be shot.

A flight attendant managed to pull the man back to the passenger area until a pilot decided to open the cockpit door.

In the incident, first reported by The Daily Beast, the unruly passenger grabbed the flight attendant by the collar and tie with one hand, and placed his other hand on the overhead compartment in an attempt to have leverage before kicking the flight attendant in the chest. , according to the affidavit.

As he allegedly attacked the crew, he again yelled at the pilot to shoot him.

“While he was screaming, he was still holding the JetBlue flight attendant by his tie,” the affidavit said. “This resulted in a tightening of the bonds and ultimately made it impossible for the JetBlue flight attendant to breathe.”

Eventually six or seven crew members managed to take control of the man using flexible handcuffs. However, the man broke with the first pair of flexible handcuffs and the crew had to use four seat belt extenders, a new pair of flexible handcuffs and a uniform tie to hold him to a seat.

The plane landed safely in San Juan where the man was taken into custody. He now faces felony charges of interfering with a flight crew.

This year alone, more than 4,300 unruly passenger incidents have been reported to the Federal Aviation Administration.

JetBlue did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.