Court backs sentence in 2003 flight incident

CARSON CITY — A man given 27 months in federal prison for recklessly endangering the passengers and crew of a Southwest Airlines flight from Las Vegas to Ontario, Calif., in 2003 had his sentence upheld Tuesday in a 2-1 appeals court decision.

The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a sentence enhancement given by U.S. District Judge Lloyd George to Salvador Gonzalez, who pleaded guilty to interfering with a flight crew on the Oct. 22, 2003, flight.

The enhancement, the result of a change in sentencing guidelines started by passage of the Patriot Act, stemmed from a belief that Gonzalez had endangered the safety of the aircraft.

His attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Jason Carr, said Gonzalez faced anywhere from probation to six months for pleading guilty to the charge of interfering with the flight crew.

Carr argued the aircraft was never in danger, but the appeals court disagreed and upheld the enhancement. Carr said he is still deciding whether to appeal the ruling to the full court.

Southwest Airlines Flight 2466 had just departed McCarran International Airport en route to Ontario when Gonzalez stood up and began complaining that he could not breathe and needed oxygen, FBI special agent Todd Palmer said after the incident in 2003.

A flight attendant told Gonzalez that she would get him some oxygen but that he should take his seat, Palmer said.

Instead, he said, Gonzalez walked toward the front of the plane and announced: “I want to get off this plane. Do I have to say there is a bomb to get you to land?”

The crew’s flight attendants asked the Oceanside, Calif., man to refrain from using such language and to return to his seat. He refused, then threatened to “take the aircraft down,” Palmer said, recounting what eyewitnesses told investigators.

Some flight attendants and passengers tried to restrain the passenger. Eventually, passengers overpowered Gonzalez and controlled him while the pilot returned to McCarran to make an emergency landing.

“His conduct was a threat not only to crew and passengers but to the aircraft,” said Judge Margaret McKeown, who wrote the majority opinion.

Carr said that Gonzalez’s behavior could not be excused but that the aircraft was never in any danger.

No bomb existed, and the pilot did not have to leave the cockpit, Carr said.

“He interfered with a flight crew; he did not endanger the aircraft,” Carr said.