Unruly passenger who diverted Delta flight to Anchorage gets two years

A South Carolina man was sentenced to two years in federal prison for interfering with a Delta flight crew after his conduct aboard a Seoul-bound flight forced the plane to divert to Anchorage.

Michael Shane Orndoff Jr., 52, of Greenwood, South Carolina, was sentenced Sept. 23, 2026, under a federal law against interfering with flight crews. That law carries a maximum of 20 years in prison. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska announced the sentence on Sept. 28.

The case landed in Alaska because the plane did. Delta Air Lines Flight 27 was flying from Atlanta to Seoul on Dec. 17, 2025, when the pilots turned for Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport.

A federal grand jury indicted Orndoff in January on one count. The indictment charges that he assaulted and intimidated a flight crew member and a flight attendant and interfered with their duties.

The account of what happened on the plane comes from the government. The U.S. Attorney's Office drew it from court documents. No statement from Orndoff or his defense attorney appears in the release or in the public court records reviewed for this story.

According to that account, Orndoff drank four to six large glasses of wine within about an hour of takeoff. He leaned over and breathed onto the woman in the next seat.

The crew cut off his alcohol. Prosecutors said he then tried to get other passengers to buy drinks for him. One of them was a minor.

Prosecutors said he next took a bottle of wine from a service cart. He locked himself in a bathroom, returned to his seat and kept harassing nearby passengers. The pilots locked themselves in the cockpit and changed course for Anchorage.

The woman seated beside him went forward to ask for another seat. According to the government, Orndoff chased her to the front of the plane. He pounded on the cockpit door and demanded more alcohol.

Passengers and crew subdued him with zip-ties. Airport police took him off the plane after it landed in Anchorage. Hours after the wine was taken, his blood alcohol concentration measured 0.192.

The FBI's Anchorage field office investigated with the airport's police and fire department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Mandy Mackenzie prosecuted the case. The court docket names U.S. District Judge Sharon Louise Gleason as the assigned judge.

The public court docket ends in January 2026 and does not show whether Orndoff pleaded guilty or went to trial. It also does not show the terms of his sentence beyond the prison term.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman said such events "have become all too common." He tied the case to travel in the state, saying air travel is essential, especially for Alaskans, and that his office is committed to making sure every passenger can fly without fear of belligerent and dangerous behavior.

"Interfering with a flight crew is a federal crime that can have catastrophic consequences," said Matthew Schlegel, special agent in charge of the FBI's Anchorage office.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the rate of unruly passenger incidents has dropped more than 80 percent since record highs in early 2021. The agency also says recent increases show more work remains.

The FAA can seek civil fines of up to $43,658 per violation. It can also refer cases to the FBI. The public record does not show whether the agency proposed a fine against Orndoff.