A 33-year-old New York man was charged Wednesday with interference with a flight crew and attendants after his erratic behavior caused a Las Vegas-bound plane to divert to Denver International Airport on Friday.
Gregory Thomas Burns of Sydney Center, N.Y., allegedly tried to open the cockpit door and then an exterior door before he was restrained by passengers on the United Airlines flight from Dulles International Airport in Virginia.
Investigators said Burns drank “multiple beers and gin drinks before and during the flight” and allegedly took tranquilizers.
“Burns told the agents and officers that he thought he was on the wrong aircraft and that the plane was on the ground,” according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
Burns was advised of the charges in a hearing in U.S. District Court in Denver on Wednesday afternoon. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in federal prison and fines up to $250,000, according to prosecutors. The Denver Post
