The man who jumped out of the emergency exit of a moving United Airlines plane at LAX on Friday told the FBI he had been smoking crystal meth for days before boarding the flight.
Luis Antonio Victoria Dominguez, 33, of La Paz, Mexico, whispered to the passenger next to him that he was planning to jump out, according to court documents obtained by the Washington Post. “I’m serious,” he said to the woman.
Victoria Dominguez made good on his threat. He initially tried to enter the cockpit, but he opened an emergency exit and jumped from the plane when that failed. Unfortunately, he broke his leg as a result of the fall.
According to the complaint, Victoria Dominguez had been smoking crystal methamphetamine “on and off” for days leading up to his escape. That Tuesday, he arrived in Los Angeles from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, and was heading to Salt Lake City. However, he did not have a connecting flight.
He checked into a hotel downtown and used $20 to buy “a lot” of crystal meth. Victoria Dominguez moved to another hotel the next day, and that’s when he decided to fly to Utah instead of traveling by bus. He missed a flight on Thursday and again on Friday. By the time he eventually boarded Flight 5365, he was coming down from all the drugs he had used.
He began to panic, which started the whole sequence of events. Another passenger on the flight tried to restrain Victoria Dominguez to keep him from jumping. Still, he broke free when the plane came to a stop and fell. He was then detained by Los Angeles Airport Police and transported to the hospital.
According to the U.S. attorney’s office in the Central District of California, Victoria Dominguez has been charged with interfering with the flight crew. He faces up to 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
