Passenger held after trying to open plane’s door

AP via MSNBC ^ | April 22, 2010 7 min ago | Tim Korte

[Ready4Freddy]

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - A Delta Air Lines flight from Los Angeles to Florida was diverted to Albuquerque early Friday after a passenger sprayed the first-class cabin with a water bottle, tried to open a cabin door and threatened to blow up the aircraft.

Crew members and passengers on Delta flight 2148 to Tampa subdued Stanley Dwayne Sheffield, 46. He was taken into federal custody after the plane landed at 1:30 a.m. Friday.

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Darrin Jones said authorities do not believe the incident was related to terrorism.

Sheffield, whose hometown in Florida wasn't disclosed by investigators, was charged with interference with flight crew members and destruction of aircraft.

Sheffield made an initial appearance Friday before U.S. Magistrate Richard Puglisi, who scheduled preliminary and detention hearings for Monday. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chuck Barth said Jones remained jailed in Albuquerque.

[Ready4Freddy]

"Get behind me, Satan". A little misdirection by al-Sheffield?

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

They should have just slowed airspeed, dropped altitude, had all other passengers buckle and let him open the door.

It would have slid closed again after he exited the vehicle and they could have made up any lost time pretty quickly.

[Disambiguator]

Stanley Dwayne Sheffield

He does have "Wayne" in his middle name, so he's automatically certifiable.

[theDentist]

Whew! Good thing they ruled out ties to terrorism before an investigation got under way, or else this could have gotten ugly.

[oh8eleven]

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Darrin Jones said authorities do not believe the incident was related to terrorism.
Nope, nothing to see here, keep moving.

[Never on my watch]

Good luck trying to open a pressurized aircraft’s door at altitude.

[a fool in paradise]

Crew members and passengers on Delta flight 2148 to Tampa subdued Stanley Dwayne Sheffield, 46

Is that middle name D'Wayne?

[Ready4Freddy]

Someone on another thread pointed out that ‘Lee’ is a common middle name for killers, too.

[FrankR]

"Good thing they ruled out ties to terrorism before an investigation got under way, or else this could have gotten ugly. "

And the next obligatory step is to find out what political party he belongs to.../sarc

[a fool in paradise]

Especially in China!

[Ready4Freddy]

I wonder if they just have a FBI doll that says that when you pull the string in back?

Or perhaps a Magif 8-Ball with all answers being the same ‘no ties to terrorism’?

[HiTech RedNeck]

home grown moose with a “pseudo hijacking”?

[Izzy Dunne]

B.J. Clintoon blames TEA parties in 5....4.....3....

[Jack Hydrazine]

Maybe he’s French!

[muleskinner]

He looks like a Joe the Plummer type, only with more miles on his mug. Basic knucklehead.

[CharlesWayneCT]

Can the doors of an airplane really be opened while the plane is in the air? I would hope that they were locked and it would at least take an act of the pilot to unlock them.

I’d hate to think any idiot could get up and jokingly pull the handle and open the doors.

[Ready4Freddy]

We'll see...

Sheffield allegedly damaged a bathroom and tried to enter the flight deck when seven passengers sprang into action and restrained him.

Gotta love those passengers. 'Let's roll'.

'Home grown moose', I love it!

[Constitution Day]

"Get behind me, Satan". A little misdirection by al-Sheffield?

Probably just a misguided fan of The White Stripes.

[ltc8k6]

They should be locked, and even if they weren’t, the pressure difference prevents anyone from opening them at altitude.

However, there have been incidents in unpressurized planes, or in planes that were not at a high enough altitude, where a nut did manage to open a door or even to jump out.

[Ready4Freddy]

Or this guy: