A passenger on a Chicago-bound American Airlines flight made a false bomb threat, forcing the aircraft to make an emergency landing in Detroit, authorities said.
Jason Douglas Pazol was having a breakdown over medication issues on flight 2819 when he allegedly told other passengers and crew: “I will blow this f—— plane up,” during the March 29 incident, the Justice Department said.
“I swear to God, I am going to do something terrible,” he said, according to court documents.
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The flight was packed with 150 passengers and crew when it departed from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport and was quickly diverted to the Detroit Metro Airport.
Everyone was removed from the aircraft, and it was taken to an isolated area and checked for explosives. None were found and the passengers and crew were re-screened.
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A federal complaint said that Pazol said he made the threat because he wanted to prevent “an outburst. He felt that the passengers on the flight were not safe around him, so he made the threat to force the aircraft to land.”
No one was injured.
“I know why people say stuff like that,” Pazol later admitted to authorities, federal prosecutors said. “I know why people say, ‘Get this f—— plane on the ground,’ and ‘Blow it up,’ because that’s what people do to get planes landed. Not because I want the plane landed, but because I am f—— sick.”
Pazol is charged with conveying false or misleading information.
After authorities determined he was unarmed, Pazol was taken to a hospital for an evaluation, court documents show.
Fox News Digital has reached out to American Airlines.
