Airline Passenger Arrested After Fight Over Headphones

Man allegedly yelled, "I will take this plane down!" on Fort Lauderdale-bound flight

We are as excited as the next airline passenger when the in-flight movie comes on, but sometimes getting to hear the Seinfeld re-runs just isn't in the cards.

A JetBlue flight from California to Fort Lauderdale was forced to land in Utah after an unruly South Florida man threatened to land the plane himself if he didn't get his headphones to enjoy the in-flight entertainment, reports the Sun-Sentinel.

Kevin Theodore Simon, 45, was arrested and charged with interference of a flight crew after he went on a tirade that rivals that of a certain former JetBlue flight attendant.

At least he didn't slide down an emergency chute.

According to the arrest report, Simon had several chances to calm down on the Monday flight, but the pilot was forced to land after the former Broward resident shouted, "I will take this plane down!"

That's when federal agents took Simon down.

And it all started with a fight over those snazzy airline headphones, which usually only cost a couple of bucks. Simon wanted to pay in cash. The flight attendant said they only took credit cards.

Apparently those were fighting words because Simon went off and started complaining.

He then asked for a drink, but the flight crew refused because they determined the man was drunk.

Declining a man's cocktail request on a West Coast to East Coast flight only caused more problems for the flight crew, who had to move Simon's seat after other passengers complained about his belligerence.

That's when Simon allegedly started shouting threats at the flight crew, including saying he would follow them off the plane when it landed in Fort Lauderdale. He even dared the crew to land.

"Let's see you take this plane down," Simon said. "If you don't, you shouldn't have your job."

Simon, whose family still lives in Fort Lauderdale, is now stuck in Salt Lake City in federal custody.

No word on what the in-flight movie was.

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