FBI affidavit details bloody attack aboard flight from San Francisco

For about a minute, a Florida man unexpectedly rained blows on an unsuspecting passenger aboard a cross-country flight en route from San Francisco to Washington, D.C., on Monday afternoon, a federal agent alleged.

Blood from the victim, who was asleep at the time and unprepared for the vicious attack, splattered on the sleeves of the suspect’s lime green windbreaker, an FBI special agent alleged in an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. Stains splattered onto nearby chairs, walls and windows as blood poured from the victim’s head and face, the officer wrote.

The victim’s screams eventually saved him, when a bystander intervened, subdued the attacker and held him at bay for the remaining three hours until the attacker was arrested upon landing, the officer claimed.

Florida resident Everett Chad Nelson is charged with federal assault over the incident. The victim’s name was not released.

A call to Nelson’s court-ordered public defender was not immediately returned. Nelson is due back in court on December 11.

The FBI received an alert at 9:26 a.m. from the Transportation Security Administration about a disruption on board an approximately five-hour United Airlines flight from San Francisco to Dulles Airport in Virginia.

Nelson sat about four rows back in the 82-seat plane. He was returning to his seat after using the restroom at the front of the plane about two hours into the flight, when he stopped in the 12th row.

The affidavit alleges that he “began to physically assault a sleeping male passenger by repeatedly punching him in the face and head until blood was drawn.”

According to the FBI agent, the victim had bruises on his eyes and a cut on his nose.

Another passenger eventually broke up the fight, according to the affidavit and United Airlines media relations. The victim was treated by a doctor on board the aircraft.

Nelson was eventually moved to the front of the plane and watched by the passenger who had previously stopped him, the affidavit and United said.

“Thanks to the quick action of our crew and customers, one passenger was restrained after becoming physically aggressive toward another customer,” United Airlines wrote in a statement.

United said the flight landed on time and was met by paramedics and law enforcement at the gate.

The Federal Aviation Administration said it was conducting its own investigation into the incident. Airlines have been besieged by unruly passengers this year, the FAA said, citing about 1,700 incidents so far.