Charges filed in ruckus aboard S.F.-bound jet

Peter Fimrite, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 12, 2010

(01-11) 17:54 PST DENVER --

An allegedly drunken, belligerent passenger who authorities say locked himself in a bathroom on a San Francisco-bound plane - prompting the military to scramble fighter jets - was charged Monday in federal court with disrupting the flight and forcing an unscheduled landing.

Muhammad Abu Tahir, 47, of Glen Allen, Va., was arrested Friday after the AirTran Airways flight landed in Colorado Springs. He will appear Wednesday before a federal magistrate in Denver on charges that he assaulted, intimidated and interfered with a flight crew.

Tahir downed five glasses of wine after boarding the flight in Atlanta, authorities said. He became abusive when flight attendants refused to serve him a sixth drink, federal prosecutors said in a criminal complaint.

Tahir allegedly began yelling and marched into the lavatory. At one point, he took off his shoes and socks and placed them outside the door, all the while accusing crew members of disrespecting him, according to the complaint.

When the senior flight attendant arrived to try to calm Tahir, he grabbed her arms and hands, but released his grasp when a passenger interceded, prosecutors said.

Flight attendants armed themselves with a fire extinguisher and positioned beverage carts in the aisles, in case Tahir tried to charge the cockpit, prosecutors said.

Two F-16s were launched by the North American Aerospace Defense Command Region to intercept and escort the plane to Colorado Springs, where police pulled Tahir from the lavatory.

"He was intoxicated. He did not obey commands given to him by the flight crew. He was assaultive," said Jeff Dorschner, the spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Denver.

Tahir is not accused of making any terrorist threats, but Dorschner said he frightened the crew and passengers.

"They just didn't know what they had," he said. "They were clearly worried."

E-mail Peter Fimrite at pfimrite@sfchronicle.com.

This article appeared on page C - 2 of the San Francisco Chronicle

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