Flight crew duct tapes woman to seat on Las Vegas flight; judge orders detention

LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – A federal judge ordered a woman detained pending trial after prosecutors said flight attendants had to duct tape her to her seat during a flight to Las Vegas.

Federal officials arrested Ketty Dilone after the American Airlines flight landed at Harry Reid International Airport on Sept. 16.

Dilone was flying from Charlotte, North Carolina, to Las Vegas when witnesses reported her “standing up… walking down the aisle and yelling,” court documents said. “Approximately halfway through the flight, a flight attendant noticed that Dilone was continually recording the entire aircraft. Dilone became increasingly disruptive when asked to stop recording other passengers and flight attendants.”

At one point, Dilone allegedly threatened multiple flight attendants, saying something along the lines of, “I will kill you [expletive]!” according to court documents.

“Dilone also made aggressive postures towards the flight attendants when they attempted to calm her down,” documents said.

The flight crew “physically restrained [Dilone] in her seat with flex cuffs around her wrists and her seat belt,” documents said, adding a flight attendant taped Dilone in place with duct tape.

“Flight attendants had to move multiple passengers around Dilone and placed volunteer passengers next to [her],” documents said. “Additionally, flight attendants had to stand and monitor [Dilone] during the airplane’s descent, which prevented them from performing their duties of preparing and securing the aircraft for landing.”

On Sept. 18, Magistrate Judge Elayna Youchah ordered Dilone to be detained pending trial.

“The court finds that, under all of the circumstances presented – defendant’s recent criminal history, the events on the plane, the recent arrest and the allegations in that arrest, and defendant’s conduct in the U.S. Marshals holding facility – there are not currently any appropriate conditions that can be fashioned that would reasonably assure the safety of the community,” documents said.

In the days since Dilone’s arrest, a federal grand jury indicted her on charges of interference with a flight crew and assault.

Dilone was scheduled to appear in court again on Sept. 30.