Man Dies After Being Subdued on American Airlines Flight from Los Angeles

NEW YORK -- Prosecutors are investigating the death of a man who was subdued by several fellow airline passengers after he became disruptive on a flight from Los Angeles.

William Lee was pronounced dead late Friday after he was removed from the American Airlines flight at Kennedy International Airport.

Lee, 48, stood up in his seat and ''loudly demanded another beer,'' airline spokesman Tim Smith said.

Flight attendants asked him to wait until they reached his row, Smith said, but the man ''got very, very belligerent and loud and disruptive and was told he would not be served any more alcohol.''

The purser tried to calm him down, but he pushed her aside in order to get to the aisle, the spokesman said.

Seven other male passengers restrained Lee, who was a very large man, and they and the flight crew put flexible handcuffs on him and put him back in his seat.

After the plane landed, police administered CPR to Lee, who ''was in some kind of distress,'' Smith said.