A British national has been ordered to pay United Airlines $20,638 in restitution after he physically threatened a crew, had to be restrained and caused a New Jersey-bound flight to be diverted to Maine.
Prosecutors say that United Airlines Flight 883 departed from London Heathrow Airport on 1 March on its way to Newark Liberty Airport in New Jersey.
According to the court filing, Alexander Michael Dominic MacDonald, 30, of Chelmsford, England, was non-compliant and became physically combative towards the crew and the captain decided to reroute the flight as a result.
MacDonald could not be kept restrained even as two passengers and the flight crew worked to hold him still, the complaint states. The pilot told a Federal Bureau of Investigation agent that he thought the passenger posed a threat to his aircraft.