A grand jury indicted a 21 year old man for two federal felonies. He was accused of disruptive and violent behavior aboard a Delta Air Lines flight that flew from Hawaii to Seattle last Christmas Eve.
Ryan Cajimat, Kapolei, Hawaii is facing charges of assault within a special aviation jurisdiction and interference with flight crew members. Cajimat is scheduled to appear in Seattle on November 18th, 2021 for his arraignment.
Cajimat could face a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment and a $250,000 penalty for interfering in the flight of a crew member. The assault charge can result in a one-year prison sentence and a $100,000 fine.
Cajimat was already handed a $52,500 civil penalty by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), for his actions during the flight. Cajimat was fined $37,000 by the FAA for being unruly, but the agency deemed the case so serious that it violated its sentencing guidelines.
Court documents state that Cajimat was disruptive about two hours before landing in Seattle. He attempted to enter the flight deck.
He had a difficult time with flight attendants, who tried to stop him but he refused to listen. The U.S. Attorneys Office in the Western District of Washington released a statement Friday saying that one flight attendant was punched twice in the face.
Cajimat was restrained with plasticuffs, but he was eventually freed from the cuffs. He struck another flight attendant again. Cajimat was handcuffed and restrained again, and finally removed by law enforcement upon his arrival in Seattle.
This indictment is coming in the same week as an American Airlines flight attendant was allegedly punched at minimum twice in the face by an unruly passenger in an unprovoked attack. American Airlines Chief Executive Doug Parker demanded that the suspect be tried to the maximum extent of the law.
Parker believes that unruly passengers should be prosecuted aggressively
Inflight misconduct or airport conduct will not be tolerated by American Airlines, Parker stated in an Instagram video posted following the incident.
American Airlines crew members, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA), have called for a centralized list of no-fly airlines so that a travel ban on one airline can also be applied to all other airlines.
