A man removed from a California-bound Southwest Airlines aircraft after he allegedly tried to open a door during the flight was charged Monday with interfering with the crew. The plane was diverted to OMA, on Sunday, so that 23-year-old Joshua Carl Suggs could be removed after the incident happened about an hour into the flight. The flight with five crew members and 134 passengers then continued on to SMF and arrived safely about two hours behind schedule.
According to the complaint against the SMF man, Suggs twice refused to return to his seat, as instructed, before pushing his way past a flight attendant and trying to open a door. Several passengers helped restrain him.
Passenger Monique Lawler told KABC-TV after reaching her final destination in LAX that the man acted strangely during the flight, and that at one point he came out of the bathroom soaking wet. She said when he went to the back of the cabin to try to pry open the door, a flight attendant screamed for help.