MIAMI — A passenger tried to enter the cockpit of an international flight out of Miami Thursday — but he was overwhelmed by the crew and passengers after the co-pilot hit him over the head with a fire ax.
United Airlines Flight 855 was halfway to Buenos Aires, Argentina, when Pablo Morcira, 28, a banker from Uruguay, began kicking and hitting the door, the FBI said.
Judy Orihuela, an FBI spokeswoman in Miami, said the captain opened the cockpit door and Morcira made it inside. She said the co-pilot then grabbed the fire ax and hit Morcira in the head, subduing him.
Morcira was restrained by the flight crew and later arrested by police after the flight landed as scheduled in Buenos Aires at 8:30 a.m. EDT, Orihuela said.
United spokeswoman Chris Nardella said the passenger never gained full entry due to the reinforced cockpit door bar that United has installed on all its jets since Sept. 11.
A passenger aboard the flight told WPLG-TV in Miami: "He inserted himself, you know his torso, into the cockpit. So I jumped on him and other individuals jumped on him.
"What I learned later is that he was halfway into the cockpit, and then, on the other side, the co-pilot used an ax that they have in the cockpit to basically hit him bluntly on the head."
The passenger told the TV station that some crew members and others then carried the suspect back to business class, where they tied him up with seatbelts.
The Boeing 777 took off from Miami at midnight with 142 passengers and 15 crew members aboard. Morcira began kicking the cockpit door about five hours into the flight, as the jetliner flew over Brazil, Orihuela said.
Orihuela said Morcira did not appear drunk and was not armed. She said she was not aware of any threats he made or what prompted him to try to enter the cockpit.
Morcira was treated for his injuries and was lucid and in stable condition Thursday, Orihuela said. A flight attendant also received minor injuries while trying to keep Morcira out, she said.
Morcira will be charged with interfering with a flight crew and flown back to Miami sometime Thursday, she said.
In a statement, United said flights to and from Argentina would continue as scheduled.
"What I learned later is that he was halfway into the cockpit, and then, on the other side, the co-pilot used an ax that they have in the cockpit to basically hit him bluntly on the head."
Any English majors out there have any idea when bluntly become an adverb? How do you hit someone bluntly?
That's all?