FBI: Flier made gun threat

No gun was found when the plane was searched.

COLUMBUS (AP) — A man on a Skybus Airlines flight claimed he was an airport security agent and threatened other passengers by suggesting he had a gun, the FBI said Friday.

Todd Tornstrom, 35, was arrested Thursday night shortly after the pilot of the flight from Columbus to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., decided to turn around and land at Port Columbus International Airport.

Tornstrom and a female passenger were disruptive and appeared to have been drinking, said airport spokeswoman Angie Tabor.

When asked by a flight attendant to stow a carry-on baggage, Tornstrom claimed he was a Transportation Security Administration agent and that he had a gun, the FBI said in a statement. The pilot decided to return to Columbus after Tornstrom couldn’t produce a TSA identification badge. The plane had 134 passengers.

The FBI also said Tornstrom was overheard by a flight attendant telling passengers that he was carrying “enough bullets for everyone on the plane.”

The plane was searched and no gun was found. All passengers were re-screened by security, and the flight took off again just after midnight.

Tornstrom, of Chesterland, Ohio, was charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants. He appeared in federal court Friday and was released on the condition that he not abuse alcohol and not fly on commercial planes, said Fred Alverson, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office. No plea was entered. A hearing was scheduled for Feb. 7.

If convicted, Tornstrom could face a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Tornstrom could not be reached to comment. There is no number listed for him in Chesterland, about 20 miles east of Cleveland.