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Thursday, July 02, 2009
'I Had To Wrestle a Naked Man'
By T.J. Wilham
Journal Staff Writer
The friendly skies got a little too friendly Tuesday when a passenger aboard a jetliner headed for Los Angeles stripped naked and refused to cover himself.The plane had to make an unexpected stop at the Albuquerque International Sunport, where Aviation police took the man, wrapped in a U.S. Airways blanket, into custody. He was identified by authorities as Keith A. Wright, 50, of Bronx, N.Y.
More photos of incident
"They used to show you a movie on a plane," said Matthew McGinnis, who was sitting across the aisle from Wright. "Now you get a skin flick."
Wright was sitting in the back row of the US Airways flight from Charlotte, N.C., when he got up to go the bathroom. Wright was in the bathroom so long that a flight attendant had to ask him to vacate the lavatory.
When he returned to his seat, located between two women, he started taking off his clothes. Both women were sleeping until another woman walking by saw Wright and started screaming.
McGinnis and flight attendants tried several times to throw a blanket over the man, but he kept tossing it off.
Two off-duty police officers from Los Angeles who were on the flight took out their handcuffs and restrained Wright's hands and feet. McGinnis said he helped the officers by holding Wright down, then covering him with the blanket.
"I had to wrestle a naked man, and then I had to dress him," McGinnis said.
In the meantime, the jet's captain decided to make an unscheduled stop in Albuquerque.
Aviation police said Wright didn't drink any alcohol on the aircraft but did drink at the Charlotte airport before boarding. They said they were investigating the possibility that medication mixed with alcohol may have contributed to Wright's behavior.
Albuquerque FBI officials said Wednesday that Wright has been charged with interference with a flight crew.
FBI officials said the flight crew was dealing with an unrelated medical emergency, which may have contributed to the flight making an unexpected stop.
Wright is expected to appear in federal court in Albuquerque today. FBI officials said a psychological evaluation may be ordered by the court at that time.
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