An Alaska Airlines flight from San Francisco to Chicago on Thursday night was forced to make an impromptu detour to Kansas City after a passenger allegedly fell asleep in one of the lavatories before threatening to kill a flight attendant. Thursday's 11:21 p.m. Alaska Airlines flight AS-456 took off from San Francisco International Airport after a brief delay, but it had to make a two-and-a-half-hour diversion to Kansas City. Chloe M. Dasilva, 32, was removed from the Boeing 737MAX by local law enforcement, and she was later arrested on one count of interfering with flight crew members.
If found guilty, Dasilva may be sentenced to up to 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine. In an affidavit given to the U.S. District Court in Kansas City, an FBI agent who was present claimed that many passengers on the late-night trip to Chicago O'Hare overheard Dasilva threatening to kill a male flight attendant. In their depositions to the police, the flight attendants who were working the trip claimed that they had seen Dasilva's "odd" conduct before the aircraft left San Francisco and that at one point, Dasilva had even stood up and inquired as to the time of takeoff.
The crew warned the passengers to keep an eye on Dasilva when she demanded to switch seats as soon as the plane took off. She eventually used the lavatory towards the back of the flight for a "long period of time" because she was unable to move seats due to the plane being fully booked. The flight attendants went to check on her after hearing a loud pounding coming from the lavatory. They found Dasilva dozing off in the bathroom when they unlocked and opened the door.
The flight attendants opted to maintain to watch when one of the pilots asked to use the restroom because they were concerned about her behavior. At this time, Dasilva allegedly walked after a male flight attendant and threatened to kill him if he didn’t leave her alone. Another passenger overheard Dasilva screaming, "I'm going to kill you until you land the plane right now," and "You're the devil," to the flight attendant. The pilot in control authorized the flight attendants to detain Dasilva using zip ties as she was being brought back to her seat, where she remained calm but in a "weird" manner. One of the travelers voiced their deep discomfort about the incident and concern that Dasilva might be carrying a weapon. Because he was concerned for the passengers' and flight attendants' safety, the captain made the decision to divert the flight. Following the removal of DaSilva, the aircraft took off once more for Chicago, where it eventually touched down more than two hours later.