Musician who helped take down suspect recounts airplane bomb scare

From our fellow blog L.A. Now, an interview with Chris Llewellyn, a member of rapper Asher Roth's band, who helped restrain the suspect on Delta Airlines Flight 110.

More details are emerging on the bomb threat and scuffle that happened aboard the Atlanta-to-LAX flight this morning. Apparently, the suspect who claimed that he had a bomb was tackled by a member of a hip-hop band from Atlanta, as well as half a dozen other passengers.

Chris Llewellyn, who plays bass and guitar in Asher Roth's band, said the incident unfolded as the plane carrying 230 passengers was making its final descent into LAX. Seated with his bandmates in row 43F, the guitarist heard a male flight attendant in the rear galley yell, "Help me, help me!"

"We were all sitting in our seats," Llewellyn said. "My boys had their headphones on. I turned around and got up and ran to the back of the plane."

He said six other passengers also ran to help.

"The suspect was yelling, 'Don't come near me, I have a bomb, I have a bomb!' " Llewellyn said. The suspect had his hands in his shirt. Cornered in the rear of the plane, the suspect lunged for the rear emergency exit door.

"We all jumped him," the guitarist said. "He was struggling hardcore. I was holding down his arm. Somebody had a foot on his head. Everyone was holding down a different body part. He was going nuts. I was telling him to chill because he's not going anyplace."

At that point, the plane was on the ground and a flight attendant had retrieved a restraining kit. From the ground the suspect asked, "What am I being charged with?"

Someone answered, "Assaulting a flight attendant."

"He flipped out over that," Llewellyn said. "Then they rolled him over and put the cuffs on him."

The band was flying to Los Angeles to perform on Carson Daly's late-night TV show.

-- Andrew Blankstein and Nathan Olivarez-Giles

Photo: Inside cabin of plane following on-board altercation. Credit: Brian Cohen, Asher Roth keyboardist

Comments

[This is good news]

...it appears that everyone has gotten the memo that it is no longer smart to just sit around and do nothing, like a sheep, on an airplane when somebody (or a group of sombodies) decide to go nuts. I have always felt that if I was on one of the 9/11 flights, I would have fought like hell against those clowns before I'd let them take over a plane... I'm glad the rest of the USA has gotten the same message. Now, if we could only get the word out about fighting against the thieves on Wall Street, and the useless banks run by those parasites, we might get somewhere as a country.

[Laura]

I tried so hard to let Atlanta know this person was unstable. God bless you Larry, I know this was a cry for help. I love you, and now you can get the help you need.... Laura

[plane lease]

I have always felt that if I was on one of the 9/11 flights, I would have fought like hell against those clowns before I'd let them take over a plane...