- A man was sentenced to 18 months in prison after trying to breach the cockpit of a United Airlines plane.
- Prosecutors said he tried to jump out the emergency door while the plane was taxiing at LAX.
- Luis Armando Victoria Dominguez was also ordered to pay more than $20,000 in fines.
A Mexican national was sentenced to 18 months in prison for attempting to breach the cockpit of a United Airlines plane and then jumping out the door while it was taxiing at Los Angeles International Airport, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.
Prosecutors said Luis Armando Victoria Dominguez, 34, boarded a June flight departing Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, but after the plane pushed back from its gate he bolted from his seat and began "banging on the cockpit door and manipulating the locked doorknob," court documents show.
Unable to gain entry to the cockpit, Dominguez then pushed past a flight attendant and partially open the emergency exit door on the plane's right side, prosecutors said.
The plane's emergency slide, however, did not deploy fully, prosecutors said. Another passenger tried to restrain Dominguez but he managed to escape, jump out of the emergency exit door, and miss the slide completely.
"Once [Dominguez] landed on the tarmac, he began crawling away from the aircraft. His right leg appeared broken," prosecutors said.
Dominguez pleaded guilty in October to a single count of interference with flight crew members. He was sentenced Wednesday by US District Judge Dolly M. Gee, who also ordered him to pay $20,132 in fines.
It is unclear what prompted Dominguez to attempt to breach the cockpit. His attorney could not be immediately reached by Insider for comment.
In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors said the pilots had to shut down the plane and turn off the right engine so that the emergency slide wouldn't get sucked in.
Dominguez's "unruly conduct damaged the plane, taking it out of commission for four days," prosecutors said.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it recorded over 6,000 incidents of unruly passengers in 2021. But most incidents did not lead to criminal charges.
Recent indictments and sentencing reflect the Justice Department's elevated priority of aviation-related crimes, following instructions from Attorney General Merrick Garland to federal prosecutors in November.
Garland said in a memo to US attorneys that his agency was "concerned about a rise in criminal behavior occurring on commercial flights that endangers the safety of passengers, flight crews, and flight attendants."