Passengers and crew subdued a man who tried to break into the cockpit on a flight to Hawaii

A man is escorted off an American Airlines flight after it landed in Honolulu, Friday, May 19, 2017
(Image credit: Donna Basden/Associated Press)

The passengers and crew of a flight from Los Angeles to Hawaii on Friday subdued a Turkish national who attempted to break into the cockpit. Two U.S. fighter jets then arrived to escort the plane to its destination, where the man was arrested by federal agents.

Identified as Anil Uskanil, 25, the unruly passenger attempted to force his way past a drink cart and through the first class cabin. "It took seconds" to subdue him, said Lee Lorenzen, a passenger who helped flight attendants restrain Uskanil. "He was pushing against the cart and a bunch of guys grabbed him. They found some duct tape. There were pillows and blankets. And they taped him to his chair."

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.