Unruly Passenger Duct Taped on Flight

When seat belts just won't do. Alcohol was involved.

RALEIGH, N.C. –– A Chicago-bound airline crew used duct tape to keep a passenger in her seat because they say she became unruly, fighting flight attendants and grabbing other passengers, forcing the flight to land in North Carolina.

Maria Esther Castillo of Oswego, N.Y., is due in court tomorrow, charged with resisting arrest and interfering with the operations of a flight crew aboard United Airlines Flight 645, from Puerto Rico to Chicago.

The FBI filed a criminal complaint in U.S. District Court in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The complaint says the 45-year-old Castillo struck a flight attendant on the buttocks with the back of her hand during Saturday's flight.

The complaint states she also stood and fell onto the head of a blind passenger and later started pulling the person's hair.

Ankle cuffs kept slipping off Castillo, so the flight crew and two passengers were forced to use duct tape to keep her in her seat.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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