SAN FRANCISCO — A Yemeni man who allegedly rammed the cockpit door on a passenger jet mid-flight seriously intended to bring the plane down, prosecutors said Tuesday.
The suspect, 28-year-old Rageh Ahmed Mohammed Al Murisi, was arraigned in a San Francisco federal court on one charge of interfering with flight crew, and could face up to 30 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
During a brief hearing, prosecutors alleged that Al Murisi rose from his seat toward the end of an American Airlines flight from Chicago to San Francisco Sunday night, The San Jose Mercury-News reported. Though cabin crew initially thought he was looking for the restroom, he soon lowered his shoulder and collided into the cockpit door.
As he collided into the door, he screamed “God is Great” in Arabic, a chilling reminder of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks for his fellow passengers, prosecutors said.
Murisi, who holds a Yemeni passport but is a resident of Vallejo, Calif. was restrained by flight attendants and passengers, including two retired law enforcement officers. He was cuffed until the Boeing 737 landed safely with 168 people on board.
Authorities previously said it had not yet been determined whether the incident was terror-related. The US remains on high alert following the killing of al Qaeda kingpin Usama bin Laden in Pakistan.
But Al Murisi’s family said outside the courtroom that the suspect has a wife and child in Yemen, and is not a terrorist.
“He’s a normal guy who had no intention of hurting anybody,” cousin Ahmed Almoraissi told The Mercury-News. “I don’t know what happened on the plane.”
Al Murisi will remain in custody under his bail hearing Friday.