Alaska Airlines passenger accused of trying to open cockpit door has been charged in federal court

A passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight this month repeatedly tried to open the cockpit door, prompting flight attendants to barricade the door and have the man restrained until landing, court documents filed in federal court allege.

A passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight this month repeatedly tried to open the cockpit door, prompting flight attendants to barricade the door and have the man restrained until landing, court documents filed in federal court allege. The passenger, Nathan Jones, has been charged with interfering with a flight crew during the March 3 flight from San Diego to Dulles International Airport in Virginia, according to a criminal complaint filed last week in US district court in Virginia. Jones got up from his seat several times during the flight and made three attempts to go to the front of the plane and open the cockpit door, an air marshal wrote in an affidavit. Flight attendants then asked off-duty law enforcement officers for help, and the officers “restrained Jones in flex cuffs and sat on either side of him” for the rest of the flight, the affidavit reads. When a flight attendant asked why he tried to access the cockpit, Jones replied that he “was testing them,” the affidavit reads. The cockpit was locked down and barricaded with a beverage cart for the remainder of the flight, according to the affidavit. The passenger had tried to access the cockpit in a “nonviolent manner” and “appeared confused,” Alaska Airlines said on Wednesday.