Flight attendant smashes unruly passenger over the head with coffee pot

An unruly passenger who tried to force his way into the cockpit was finally subdued when a quick-thinking flight attendant smashed him over the head.

An unruly passenger who tried to force his way into the cockpit of an American Airlines flight Sunday was finally subdued when a quick-thinking flight attendant smashed him over the head with a coffee pot.

According to a release from the FBI, Juan Remberto Rivas, 50, was on a flight from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., when he started “displaying erratic behaviour” and began threatening flight attendants.

The report said he made his way to the front of the plane and grabbed a plastic knife, holding it “like a shank” in his shirt sleeve.

He then “grabbed a small champagne bottle by the neck of the bottle and attempted to break the bottle on the counter. He began kicking and shoving the service cart into one of the flight attendants,” the report continues. (An airline service cart can weigh more than 100 lbs. when fully loaded.)

Rivas then allegedly tried to pry open the exit door at the front of the plane, using his foot and both hands to try to remove the door.

That’s when one of the flight attendants grabbed a coffee pot and hit Rivas over the head, twice.

Several passengers, including an off-duty police officer, quickly came to the crew’s aid — one punched Rivas in the jaw, while another pulled him down to the floor.

The group then used zip ties and duct tape to restrain his hands and feet.