A Vancouver man was charged in federal court Tuesday on a grand jury indictment for allegedly prompting an emergency landing on a Delta Air Lines flight bound from Portland to Atlanta.
The grand jury charged Bolutife Olusegun Olorunda, 29, with verbally assaulting, abusing, and threatening to harm a flight attendant, according to an indictment filed in U.S. District Court for Northern Oklahoma. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
The alleged incident occurred May 30 after Olorunda boarded Delta Air Lines Flight 1156. During the flight, he began singing out loud and screaming, disrupting other passengers, according to a federal complaint.
A flight attendant contacted Olorunda, but he ignored her. When she tried to be more direct, he reportedly stated, “Don’t touch me, and if you touch me again, you will regret it.” She then alerted the other flight attendants to the situation, as well as the captain, and requested assistance from passengers to help restrain Olorunda if he became violent, the complaint states.
“The flight crew members felt like Olorunda was acting in a manner that caused concern for the safety and security of the flight,” the complaint reads.
Two federal air marshals who were on the flight were summoned to help. One protected the cockpit while the other sat beside Olorunda and tried to talk with him to de-escalate the situation. He was unresponsive, however, according to the complaint.
When the air marshal tried to remove Olorunda’s headphones to ensure he was listening to her, he began flailing his arms. She eventually got him to comply and sat next to him until the flight made an emergency landing at Tulsa, Okla., International Airport. There, airport police removed Olorunda from the aircraft and detained him, the complaint says.
The incident was investigated by the FBI, Transportation Security Administration, Homeland Security Investigations and Tulsa International Airport authorities.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul J. Cleary on Wednesday ordered that Olorunda be released from custody if he promises to appear at all court proceedings and executes an unsecured bond for $10,000. He must also undergo mental health treatment, in addition to following other conditions. Olorunda is not to loiter around or enter any airport or board any aircraft in the United States, court records show.
