Mid-air drama as traveller is held by crew

A man was in custody today after being restrained by a flight crew when he approached the cockpit of an American aircraft.

The Northwest plane, from Detroit to Honolulu, was crossing the Pacific last night when Brandon Gabriel Rines became agitated, the FBI said.

He tried to reach the cockpit but was pulled to the back of the aircraft and held down by flight crew and two off-duty pilots.

The incident happened on Northwest Flight 923 about 90 minutes away from Honolulu.

It came as America remains on Orange alert against the threat of a terror attack.

FBI Special Agent Charles Goodwin said: “Rines initially became agitated and would not remain in his seat.

“He subsequently became more unruly, at which time he was subdued and restrained by crew members.”

He said Rines had been charged with “interference with a flight crew” and was being held at the Federal Detention Facility in Honolulu.

There was no immediate evidence that he intended some kind of terror attack.

With fears of terrorism high in the United States, British Airways security officials will decide today whether to operate its afternoon flight to Washington after cancelling yesterday’s service because of fears over security.

Flight BA 223 from Heathrow to Washington, which normally leaves London at 3.05pm, was cancelled several hours before it was scheduled to depart yesterday after BA received “security advice” from the Government.

On New Year’s Eve, the same flight had been kept on the runway for three hours after landing at Washington Dulles International Airport to allow security officials to board the plane and question passengers.

The Boeing 747 was escorted into Dulles by two F-16 fighter jets.

Meanwhile, an Aeromexico flight to Los Angeles from Mexico City has been cancelled twice in two days due to security concerns, US authorities said.

Security officials fear that al-Qaida may try to use planes on international flights to launch similar attacks to those of September 11.