Flight Diverted After Passenger Undresses In Seat

A passenger aboard a US Airways flight was subdued and handcuffed after he stripped naked during and resisted a flight attendant's efforts to cover him with a blanket.

Keith Wright, 50, from New York, was taken into custody after he got naked while sitting in his seat in the back of Flight 705, authorities said. The plane was carrying about 148 passengers from Charlotte to Los Angeles.

When a flight attendant asked him to put his clothes back on, Wright simply ignored her, said Dan Jirona, a spokesman for the Albuquerque airport.

"She asked him on more than one occasion to put on his clothes. She covered him with a blanket and he took that off," Jiron said.

Wright instead punched and kicked the flight attendant, who then asked two off-duty law officers for help. A Los Angeles police officer and sheriff's deputy were able to subdue and handcuff Wright before the flight landed.

Upon landing, Wright apparently told the FBI he is suffering from a bipolar disorder and had not taken his prescribed medication before leaving New York that morning. He claimed that he didn't remember anything about the flight or undressing on it.

Wright evidently also made a scene before he even boarded. According to one flight supervisor, he had been seen dancing in a crowded boarding area before the flight, but when the supervisor approached him, he told her he had only had one beer. The woman didn't smell alcohol on him and thought he was well enough to travel.

Passenger Ginny Keegan was sitting in the front of the plane: "No one was really panicking. The flight attendants seemed to handle it very well," she said, confirming that the man was "completely naked" as he was taken in handcuffs off the plane.

As the plane took off again, Keegan said the usual announcement to please fasten your seat belts came with a twist. The message over the loudspeakers included "a reminder to everybody to please keep your clothing on. It got a couple chuckles."

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