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Man tries to enter plane cockpit
10/09/2001
By MARIO FOX CHICAGO — Two military fighter planes escorted an American Airlines jetliner
to Chicago on Monday after a passenger described as being mentally ill tried to
enter the plane's cockpit, federal officials said. Edward A. Coburn, 31, of Fresno, Calif., was subdued by two pilots and
several passengers aboard Flight 1238 from Los Angeles, FBI spokesman Ross Rice
said. It wasn't clear if he ever made it into the cockpit of the Boeing 767.
No one was injured, and the plane landed safely at O'Hare International
Airport. Coburn was in custody and was to be charged Tuesday with interfering
with a flight crew, a felony, Rice said. At the Chicago airport, some passengers told reporters that the man said he
feared they were going to crash into the Chicago Sears Tower, the nation's
tallest building. ``This man had some sort of mental problem. He is on medication and under a
doctor's treatment,'' Rice said. ``This is not a terrorist incident and was not
related in any way to the attacks on Sept. 11.'' Last week, Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta ordered all airlines to
strengthen cockpit doors within 90 days. Several already have been doing so
since the terrorist attacks. Cockpit doors on airplanes have been designed to allow flight crews to escape
quickly in an emergency. The American Airlines plane was carrying a crew of nine and 153 passengers.
The man's father, who was aboard the flight, alerted the crew before the plane
took off that his son was acting strangely and suffered from some sort of
illness, Rice said. During the struggle, the pilot made a distress call and two F-16s were
dispatched to escort the plane to the airport, Chicago Aviation Department
spokeswoman Monique Bond said.
Associated Press Writer