Aviation Forum / Country Specific / Australian Group / July 2009

Flight Diverted After Passenger Gets Naked
Suspect In Federal Custody

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- A passenger stripped naked during a US Airways
flight and resisted a flight attendant's efforts to cover him with a
blanket before two off-duty law enforcement officers on board subdued
and handcuffed him, authorities said Wednesday.

Keith Wright, 50, of the Bronx in New York, was taken into custody after
he disrobed while sitting in his seat in the back of Flight 705 on
Tuesday evening, authorities said. The plane was carrying about 148
passengers from Charlotte to Los Angeles, the airline said.

Wright was unresponsive when a flight attendant asked him to put his
clothes back on, said Dan Jiron, a spokesman for the Albuquerque
airport. "She asked him on more than one occasion to put on his clothes.
She covered him with a blanket and he took that off," Jiron said.

Wright punched and kicked the flight attendant, who asked two off-duty
law officers for help, according to a criminal complaint. A Los Angeles
police officer and sheriff's deputy helped the flight attendant subdue
and handcuff Wright before the flight landed, Jiron said.

The flight attendants also were dealing with an unrelated onboard
medical emergency at the same time, which exacerbated the situation, the
FBI said. The aircraft was diverted because of the medical emergency,
and Wright's actions were a secondary reason for the unplanned landing,
the complaint said.

Roger Finzel, an assistant federal public defender representing Wright,
said he has not yet met with his client and had no information about the
case other than what was in the complaint.

Wright told the FBI he is suffering from a bipolar disorder and had not
taken his prescribed medication before leaving New York that morning,
the criminal complaint said. Wright told the FBI he recalled nothing
about the flight or his behavior, it said.

Wright had been seen dancing in a crowded boarding area before the
flight, but when approached by Flight Service Supervisor Claudia
Kearney, he told her he had drunk one beer. Kearney told the FBI she did
not smell alcohol on him and determined he was well enough to travel,
the complaint said.

US Airways spokeswoman Valerie Wunder could not confirm that Kearney
worked for the airline.

Passenger Ginny Keegan of Detroit was sitting in the front of the plane,
when there was commotion coming from the back. The people on the flight
were notified of a violent passenger as the plane began to approach
Albuquerque, but Keegan said no one was fearful.

"No one was really panicking. The flight attendants seemed to handle it
very well," she said. Keegan said the man was "completely naked" as he
was taken in handcuffs off the plane.

As the plane took off again, Keegan said the usual announcement to
please fasten your seat belts came over the loudspeakers with a twist.
The message included "a reminder to everybody to please keep your
clothing on. It got a couple chuckles," Keegan said.

Wright is in federal custody on a federal charge of interfering with
flight crew members and attendants. He is expected to appear in federal
court in Albuquerque on Thursday.