Minnesota man accused in airplane fire

MINNEAPOLIS, May 16 (UPI) -- A 19-year-old Minnesota man allegedly started a fire in the bathroom of a commercial jet, causing the aircraft to make an emergency landing, authorities say.

FBI Special Agent Ralph Boelter alleged in a news release that Eder H. Rojas of Woodbury, Minn., set a fire in a Compass Airlines jet May 7 after it departed from a Minneapolis airport on a flight to Regina, Saskatchewan, in Canada, The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, a North Dakota newspaper, reported Friday.

Boelter thanked federal and local authorities for their help in learning which of the plane's 69 passengers was responsible for the blaze.

"Outstanding cooperation and an excellent investigative effort between several federal and local agencies resulted in federal charges being filed today," Boelter said.

No one was injured in the bathroom fire and the plane made an emergency landing at the Hector International Airport in Fargo, N.D., The Forum said.

Passengers on board the flight told the newspaper that two flight attendants extinguished the blaze during the landing.