A 32-year-old woman was charged in federal court this week after allegedly threatening to kill a flight attendant on an Alaska Airlines plane.
Chloe DaSilva has been charged with interfering with flight crew members and attendants, as announced by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Missouri on Monday. Per an affidavit, DaSilva was a passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight that was originally slated to fly nonstop from San Francisco to Chicago on April 7. Due to the woman’s behavior, however, the flight was forced to be diverted to Kansas City.
DaSilva is alleged to have at one point gotten into a confrontation with a flight attendant, including by way of “cussing and yelling and threatening to kill him.” Following the confrontation, DaSilva was restrained with zip ties for the remainder of the flight. The Boeing 737 later made a safe landing early Friday morning at Kansas City International Airport.
When reached for comment by Complex on Wednesday, a spokesperson for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) noted it has a “strict zero-tolerance policy” when it comes to dealing with passengers who engage in “unruly” conduct. The rep also pointed to this year’s tally of just under 500 “unruly passenger reports.” While just one such incident “is one too many,” the rep added, this figure points to a sizable decrease following a record-high of just under 6,000 such incidents in 2021. In 2022, that number dropped to a reported 2,178.
A rep for Alaska Airlines, meanwhile, offered the following:
“Alaska Airlines Flight 456 from San Francisco to Chicago O’Hare on April 7 diverted to Kansas City due to a disruptive guest on board who also made threatening comments against the crew. After landing, the guest was removed from the aircraft by local law enforcement officers. The flight then continued onto Chicago without any further incident.”
