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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2001

Federal authorities on Monday arrested a Native man who apparently violated new air safety regulations aboard a US Airways flight bound for Washington, D.C.

Raho N. Ortiz, the son of well known Native author Simon Ortiz and former attorney for the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs, was restrained after he began making his way toward the cockpit of a flight that was about to land at Reagan National Airport. Ortiz only wanted to use the bathroom but two air marshals, one brandishing a gun, wrestled him to the floor, since no passengers are allowed out of their seats in the last half hour of any flight heading into National.

Ortiz voluntarily complied with their orders, federal charges were subsequently dropped and he was released from Dulles International Airport, where the flight was diverted. Local authorities, however, want him on a drug possession charge, reported The Washington Post.

Ortiz is of Navajo and Acoma Pueblo heritage. He is an attorney.

Get the Story:
Passenger Prompts Landing At Dulles (The Washington Post 11/13)