Black Belt Flight Attendant Lorin Gorman Smokes Pot Cookie-Crazed Passenger Kinman Chan
Photo: Lorin Gorman
Meet Lorin Gorman, his flight, or should we say, fight attendant.
A fourth-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Gorman is credited with helping to avert a precarious situation in the air for US-Air flight 1447.
Crew members said Chan made odd gestures before he entered the plane's rear restroom shortly after takeoff and began to scream, according to a complaint filed by the FBI.
Photo: Kinman Chan
Chan told agents that he "came back to reality" and exited the restroom, at which point the crew noticed his "pants were down, his shirt was untucked and all the compartments in the restroom were opened."
When Gorman tried to get Chan to sit, he fought her and had to be subdued in a choke hold, she says.
"I said, 'You need to sit down now,'" Gorman told television station KNSD.
Chan did not.
"Well, what I did, I just put him in an arm lock. To get his other arm, I had to jump up on the seat … He was resisting," Gorman said to the station.
Chan, 30, was charged with interfering with the duties of a flight attendant, which carries up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Margaret Philbin, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Pittsburgh, said Chan has a legally issued medical marijuana card for a "legitimate" health issue, which she declined to identify.
Chan was arrested in Pittsburgh, then jailed until a federal magistrate granted him bond Tuesday, Philbin said.
Allegheny County officials have also charged him with disorderly conduct, Philbin said.
A federal grand jury will now take up the case. Chan waived his right to a preliminary hearing. That means federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh have 30 days to obtain a grand jury indictment on the charge.