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Angry flier uses emergency slide to exit Delta jet

GEORGETOWN, Guyana (AP) — Guyanese authorities say a first-class airline passenger was so angry at seeing economy passengers leave a jetliner before him that he yanked open an emergency hatch and slid down the chute.

Police spokesman Sealall Persaud says the Guyanese man identified as Satyanand Christopher appeared to be intoxicated after the Delta Air Lines flight from New York.

Persaud said Sunday that local police arrested Christoper, who was quickly released on bail after the Friday incident.

Delta spokesman Junior Horatio says the U.S. carrier plans to file charges against the man for interfering with flight crewmembers.

Boy who hopped 2 flights last year tries it again

SEATAC, Wash. (AP) — A 10-year-old boy who last year talked his way onto airline flights to Texas tried another getaway Tuesday but was stopped at a boarding gate, authorities said.

Security tapes show Semaj Booker passing through a metal detector and other procedures before 5 a.m. at a checkpoint operated by the Transportation Security Administration at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.  His mother had reported him missing to Tacoma police at 3 a.m.

TSA is investigating why he was not required to show a boarding pass at the checkpoint, said Dwayne Baird, Northwest region spokesman for TSA in Salt Lake City.

Semaj was detained at 6:35 a.m. while trying to board a Southwest Airlines flight to Sacramento, said airport spokesman Perry Cooper.  The boy pointed to a man in front of him and said, "I'm with him," but that was quickly found to be false, Cooper said.

Authorities confirmed the boy was reported missing and returned him to his mother, Cooper said.   He indicated to officers he was trying to get to Dallas, Cooper said.

In January 2007, Semaj had lied his way onto a Southwest Airlines flight by saying his mother was already in the boarding area.  He changed planes in Phoenix and flew to San Antonio before being discovered.

At that time, his mother told authorities her son was unhappy living in the Tacoma suburb of Lakewood and wanted to be with his grandfather in Dallas.

Days before boarding that flight, Semaj had stolen and crashed a car. A judge convicted him of car theft in July but said he wouldn't have to go to juvenile detention if he stayed out of trouble for a year.

Cooper said Tuesday's incident would be referred to King County prosecutors to determine whether any new charges were warranted.

A phone number for the Bookers' home could not be located Tuesday.

Naked pilot, flight attendant charged after romp in woods

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — An airline pilot was found hiding behind a shed wearing only flip-flops and a wristwatch as a nighttime romp in the woods with a flight attendant ended with both under arrest.

Jeffrey Paul Bradford, 24, and Adrianna Grace Connor, 24, both employees of Pinnacle Airlines Inc., were at a diner on the outskirts of Harrisburg on Sunday night before they apparently decided to walk into the woods, police said.

"They told the officer they wanted to go do it in the woods, essentially," said Lower Swatara Township police Sgt. Richard Brandt. "That's the best answer they had."

The two somehow became separated, and people who live in the neighborhood summoned police around 9:30 p.m., saying they had seen a naked man and an intoxicated woman.

A helicopter with heat-seeking equipment was called in, and Bradford was discovered hiding behind a shed shortly before midnight.

His only attire was a pair of flip-flops and a wristwatch.

Bradford, of Pittsburgh, was charged with indecent exposure, public drunkenness and other offenses. Connor, of Belleville, Mich., was charged with theft from a motor vehicle, public drunkenness and other offenses; police said she took a flashlight from a neighbor's vehicle.

A spokesman for the Memphis, airline said the two were suspended while the company investigates.

The office of District Justice Michael John Smith, where Bradford and Connor were arraigned, said they were not represented by lawyers. Telephone listings for them could not be located by The Associated Press.

Flight attendant accused of setting fire on airplane

FARGO, N.D. — A flight attendant angry about his work route set a fire in an airplane bathroom, forcing an emergency landing, authorities said.

The Compass Airlines flight carrying 72 passengers and four crewmembers landed safely in Fargo on May 7 after smoke filled the back. No injuries were reported. The plane was flying from Minneapolis to Regina, Saskatchewan, authorities said.

Eder Rojas, 19, appeared in court Thursday, following his arrest a day earlier in Minneapolis, and ordered held without bail, prosecutors said. The charge of setting fire aboard a civil aircraft carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

His public defender did not return a phone call seeking comment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Jordheim, who is prosecuting the case in Fargo, would not comment.

Court documents said Rojas, of the Twin Cities suburb of Woodbury, told authorities he was upset at the airline for making him work the route.

"Rojas further stated that he was preparing his cart to serve the passengers, he set the cart up, went back to the lavatory and reached in with his right hand and lit the paper towels with the lighter," court documents said.

Pilot Steve Peterka told authorities that an indicator light came on about 35 minutes into the flight, showing smoke in the rear bathroom.

Peterka called Rojas, who was assigned passengers in the back of the plane, and asked him to check the bathroom, documents said. Rojas, another flight attendant and a passenger were credited with quickly putting out the flames with fire extinguishers, authorities said.

Investigators later found a lighter in one of the overhead bins. Rojas confessed after authorities interviewed him, the complaint said.

Compass is a subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, based in Eagan, Minn. Rojas has been fired, said Northwest spokesman Rob Laughlin. Northwest did not say how long Rojas worked for the airline.

FBI agent Ralph Boelter said Compass Airlines officials showed "extraordinary cooperation" in the investigation.