SHREVEPORT, La., Oct. 10 (UPI) -- A Venice, Calif. man was arrested Wednesday after a note he passed to a flight attendant on a Delta Air Lines 757 caused the captain to declare an in-flight emergency and land with an F-16 fighter jet escort in Shreveport.
Edward A. Stephenson, 36, was charged with interference with a flight crew, according to U.S. Attorney Bill Flanagan. Stephenson was held for a court appearance before a magistrate Thursday and Flanagan said he would seek a mental examination of the suspect.
In a statement, Flanagan said Stephenson handed "a threatening note to a flight attendant. The flight attendant then alerted the pilot who declared an in-flight emergency."
Stephenson was arrested when Flight 357 landed about 3:12 p.m. CDT at Shreveport Regional Airport, according to Roland Herwig, an FAA spokesman.
The Boeing 757, with 139 passengers and nine crewmembers, was en route from Atlanta to Los Angeles when the crew reported a disturbance in the cabin about 2:43 p.m. CDT, he said. They later said they had it "under control" and the plane was diverted to Shreveport.
Two F-16 fighters escorted the Delta plane to Shreveport and the flight continued to Los Angeles after the stopover, according to Delta spokeswoman Cindy Kurczewski in Atlanta.
The Shreveport incident was the latest in a series of in-flight disturbances this week as new security measures are imposed at airports across the nation in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
There have been three incidents at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. On Monday, a disturbed man rushed the cockpit of an American Airlines flight and was subdued by a back-up pilot and passengers. On Tuesday, three men were forcibly removed from a United Airlines plane when they tried to open an emergency exit and an intoxicated Australian man was charged with interfering with a flight crew on an American flight.
