Suspect ordered held in airline assault

Kim Smith

Tuesday, July 27, 1999 | 10:15 a.m.

A Vietnam native accused of assaulting four people on a Delta flight over the weekend must remain in custody.

Chief Justice of the Peace Nancy Oesterle, who was filling in for U.S. Magistrate Roger Hunt, ordered Hung Cong Duong, 30, held following his arraignment Monday afternoon.

FBI spokesman Kevin Caudle said Duong was on a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta early Saturday when he became upset that a flight attendant would not serve him before other passengers.

Duong turned over the beverage cart, burning a 17-month-old baby and her mother with hot coffee, Caudle said. He then assaulted a 12-year-old girl and another woman on his way back to his seat.

Duong was turned over to FBI agents after pilots decided to land the plane at McCarran International Airport. He was charged with interference with a flight crew.

During Monday's hearing, Jason Ferris, a certified law clerk representing the federal government, asked Oesterle to detain Duong, arguing he was a danger to society and a flight risk.

The anti-depressant drug that Duong is taking obviously wasn't working well Saturday morning, Ferris said.

Duong also has strong ties to his native Vietnam, Ferris said.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Jason Carr, however, said his client has lived in the U.S. since 1991 and has family and work in Tampa, Fla. His passport was also confiscated by authorities, he said.

Carr told the judge that Duong should not be considered a threat because he has no prior criminal history, and there is no evidence he uses drugs.

"The only evidence of violence is what is contained within the charge," Carr said. "If it happened, it was a spontaneous burst of anger."

Oesterle scheduled Duong's preliminary hearing for Aug. 6.

The infant was treated at University Medical Center and released.