Passenger who forced emergency landing wanted to ‘bring down the plane,’ FBI says

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A California man allegedly tried to force his way into the cockpit of an American Airlines plane and open an emergency hatch during a cross-country flight on Sunday afternoon, prompting airline staff and passengers to restrain him until the plane made an unscheduled landing at Kansas City International.

Juan Remberto Rivas, 50, of California, is charged with one felony count of interference with a flight attendant, prosecutors in the Western District of Missouri announced Monday. He was a passenger on American Airlines Flight 1775, a nonstop from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.

According to an affidavit written by an FBI agent, passengers and flight staff told authorities of a harrowing scene on the airplane where Rivas allegedly said he wanted to “bring down the plane.”