Former Red Sox manager Kevin Kennedy — also a Tampa Bay Rays broadcaster — was on a flight from L.A. to Florida early Friday morning when a passenger sprayed the first-class cabin with a water bottle, tried to open a cabin door and threatened to blow up the plane, according to The Associated Press.
The flight was Delta Airlines flight No. 2148 and it was diverted to Albuquerque.
Kennedy, along with crew members and other passengers, subdued 46-year-old Stanley Dwayne Sheffield, who was taken into federal custody and charged with interference with flight crew members and destruction of aircraft. He is still in jail in Albuquerque.
When the commotion began, Kennedy was asleep.
"Then I hear in loud voices some guy talking about Satan and death," he told the AP. "I can hear the flight attendant, a lady who was a little bit nervous. It woke me up and I was wide awake immediately. I see this guy and he was crossing himself and flipping water around, talking about Satan. As I looked around, other guys [in first class] were kind of waking up."
The FBI told the AP they do not believe the incident was related to terrorism.
Records state that Sheffield grabbed a water bottle on his way back to his seat from the lavatory and began spraying other passengers while telling a flight attendant, "Get behind me, Satan." He then refused to return to his seat, tried to open the main cabin door and made threats about blowing up the aircraft.
"The guy next to me, he was saying 'Hey buddy, let's calm down here.' We tried to talk him down but it wasn't happening," Kennedy said. "It was actually getting worse. He started to get into the bomb thing, saying we're going to go to Hell with him."
Kennedy and seven other men eventually tied him up with seatbelt extenders and hand restraints.
