By Ciara Perez, Investigative Journalist | iSkyCreations – News & Media (ISC)
Published Jan 23rd, 2024
Kansas City, Missouri – Juan Remberto Rivas, a 52-year-old man from California, has pleaded guilty in federal court to charges of interfering with a flight crew, following a dramatic incident aboard an American Airlines flight. The plane, originally en route to Washington, D.C., was forced to make an emergency landing at Kansas City International Airport due to Rivas’s actions.
Rivas, appearing before U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark, admitted to one count of interfering with flight crew members and attendants, a federal offense that carries a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.
The incident unfolded on February 13, 2022, during American Airlines flight 1775 traveling nonstop from Los Angeles, California, to Washington, D.C. Rivas caused a major disturbance by attempting to open the plane’s exit door mid-flight. In a bizarre turn of events, he was seen arguing with a flight attendant at the front of the plane, fashioning a makeshift weapon from plastic silverware, and trying to break a champagne bottle to use as a weapon.