Unruly passenger charged after trying to enter cockpit

SAN FRANCISCO (AP):

A California man was arrested on Sunday, after he attempted twice to open the cockpit door of a San Francisco-bound American Airlines flight. On his second attempt, the man was restrained by crew members.

In a court affidavit, a federal air marshall said the man was apprehended after a crew member told him that the restroom he was looking for was to his left.

Rageh Al-Murisi was scheduled to appear in court yesterday on a charge of interfering with flight crew members and attendants.

In the court affidavit filed on Monday, Air Marshal Paul Howard said after being told that wasn't the restroom, Al-Murisi made eye contact with the crew member, lowered his shoulder and rammed the door. The crew member told Howard he then got between Al-Murisi and the door, but Al-Murisi kept yelling and pushing forward in an attempt to open it, according to the affidavit.

Al-Murisi, 28, of Vallejo, California, was subdued by the crew member and several passengers, including a retired Secret Service agent and a retired San Mateo police officer, and taken into custody after the flight landed safely around 9:10 p.m. Sunday at San Francisco International Airport, according to authorities.