Man who threatened passengers, crew gets 27 months

David Kihara

Monday, July 25, 2005 | 9:18 a.m.

The passenger who threatened a Southwest Airlines airplane with a bomb and fought with the flight crew has been sentenced to more than two years in prison.

U.S. District Judge Lloyd George on Friday sentenced Salvador Gonzales to 27 months plus three years supervised release for interfering with a flight crew on Southwest Airlines flight 2466 in 2003.

Gonzales, who struggled with flight crew and passengers, forced the California-bound plane to be diverted back to McCarran International Airport.

"This outlandish incident is really troubling to me," said George before sentencing Gonzales. George said that he would have barred Gonzales from ever taking another commercial flight if it was within his power.

Gonzales said he regretted his behavior on the plane.

"I want to apologize to your honor, the court and all the people I hurt because of my actions," he said immediately before George sentenced him. "I have three little girls that need their dad."

Gonzales' attorney, Monique Kirtley, said she needed to consult with her client before going forward with an appeal.

When asked why Gonzales created the disturbance on the airplane, she said drugs and his mental state may have contributed, but she did not confirm that Gonzales was on drugs at the time.

The U.S. attorney's office said Gonzales posed a serious danger to the crew and other passengers on the flight when he demanded to be let off the flight.

Collin Seals, a certified law clerk who presented the sentencing case before the judge for the U.S. attorney's office, stated that the case was unlike many typical flight interference cases that involved people getting intoxicated and disorderly.

"This defendant threatened the use of a bomb," he said. "The defendant put people's lives at risk."

Besides struggling with flight crew and passengers, Gonzales pulled luggage and bags from the overhead compartment bins of the aircraft, Seals said. This gave the impression that Gonzales was searching for a bomb, he said.