Man who disrupted a flight by trying to get into the cockpit shouting 'jihad' is jailed

A man who disrupted a flight by trying to get into the cockpit and yelling "jihad" has been jailed.

Police said David Patrick Diaz ran to the front of the United Airlines plane, pulled on the cockpit door handle and shouted: "The plane is not going fast enough. We need to go faster. It's going to go down. We are going down."

The 36-year-old, from New York, was sentenced to nine months in prison.

US District Judge Anthony Trenga said Diaz "terrorised the passengers and endangered the safety of everyone on the plane."

After three passengers and a flight attendant tackled him, he yelled that there was something in the belly of the plane and the words "jihad" and "bomb."

The plane returned to Dulles, and Diaz was arrested. He pleaded guilty in January to a charge of interfering with the flight crew.

In court documents, prosecutors said he had alcohol abuse and mental health problems.