Mexican Man Caused Flight to be Diverted to Corpus Christi

A Mexican citizen was detained without bond Tuesday on a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew after the plane he was on was diverted to Corpus Christi on its way to Houston Monday night.

Eduardo Bolado, 59, is accused of interfering with the crew by assaulting, attempting to assault or intimidate flight personnel, federal prosecutor Carol Wheeler said during a magistrate hearing Tuesday. She did not go into detail about the incident during the hearing and declined to answer questions afterward.

Bolado was on board a Continental Express flight from Monterrey, Mexico, to Houston when his actions caused enough alarm among the flight crew to cause a detour to Corpus Christi International Airport, said airport spokeswoman Amy Gazin.

The flight left Monterrey at 5:20 p.m. and landed in Corpus Christi about 7 p.m., where officials from the FBI, U.S. Customs and the Transportation Security Administration met the plane and removed Bolado. The rest of the passengers and flight crew stayed on board and went on to Houston.

At his Tuesday arraignment in U.S. Magistrate B. Janice Ellington's court, Bolado requested he be allowed to hire his own attorney.

"I'd like to try to get my own, but if I can't I'd like to have one appointed to me," Bolado said, adding that he'd like to be informed of the punishment related to his charge.

Ellington said those matters could be discussed during a detention and preliminary hearing set for 8 a.m. Friday in her courtroom.

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