US flight attendant 'set fire to plane's toilet'

A flight attendant angry about his work route started a fire in a toilet, forcing an emergency landing, authorities said today.

The Compass Airlines flight carrying 72 passengers and four crew members landed safely in Fargo, North Dakota, on May 7 after smoke filled the back. No injuries were reported. The plane was flying from Minneapolis to Regina, Saskatchewan.

Eder Rojas, 19, appeared in court yesterday, following his arrest a day earlier in Minneapolis, and remanded in custody. The charge of setting fire aboard a civil aircraft carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Court documents said Rojas, of the Twin Cities suburb of Woodbury, said he was upset with the airline for making him work the route. He is accused of taking a lighter with him through the security checkpoint.

“Rojas further stated that he was preparing his cart to serve the passengers, he set the cart up, went back to the lavatory and reached in with his right hand and lit the paper towels with the lighter,” court documents said.

Pilot Steve Peterka told authorities that an indicator light came on about 35 minutes into the flight, showing smoke in the rear toilet.

Mr Peterka called Rojas, who was assigned passengers in the back of the plane, and asked him to check the toilet, documents said. Rojas, another flight attendant and a passenger were credited with quickly putting out the flames with fire extinguishers, authorities said.

Investigators later found a lighter in one of the overhead bins. Rojas confessed after authorities interviewed him, the complaint said.

Compass is a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, based in Eagan, Minnesota. Rojas had been sacked, said Northwest spokesman Rob Laughlin. Northwest did not say how long Rojas worked for the airline.