An American Airlines passenger who was not happy with how his meal choices were presented to him has been charged with interference with flight crew members by the US District Court of Southern Florida.
Based on court documents uploaded by The Daily Beast, the incident occurred on March 8, 2023 on an American Airlines flight AA 1192 from Grantley Adams International Airport (BGI) in Bridgetown, Barbados, to Miami International Airport (MIA) in Florida.
Approximately one hour and 54 minutes into the flight, the accused, identified as Robert David Croizat, stood from his seat and approached a flight attendant (identified as FA1) to say that he was a “shitty” flight attendant and that he should have addressed him (Croizat) better when giving him meal choices.
During the exchange, Croizat challenged FA1 and another flight attendant to call the captain.
Croizat allegedly refused to return to his seat despite numerous requests, and touched one of the flight attendants (FA3) during the altercation. When told not to touch her again, Croizat allegedly pushed her twice on the shoulder.
FA3 then decided to call the captain to inform him of the situation.
After a while, Croizat approached the cockpit, where another flight attendant (FA2) was standing before the cockpit door. Croizat allegedly pinned FA2 against the cockpit door.
At this point, fellow passengers were already telling Croizat to sit down. When he still refused, one of the passengers lifted Croizat and placed him back on his seat.
The Captain called air traffic control to report the incident during the flight, advising that there had been an attempted breach of the cockpit.
Croizat remained in his seat for the rest of the flight. When the flight landed in MIA airport, he was removed by law enforcers.
Croizat, a British national, identifies himself on social media as a retired founding partner of an ”international wealth management firm”. According to Paddle Your Own Kanoo, Croizat is currently setting up a mental health charity in Barbados.