Airline passenger gets 19-month sentence. US says he tried to enter cockpit and open an exit door

An airline passenger who tried to make a shank from plastic cutlery and open the cockpit door during a flight has been sentenced to 19 months in prison. A federal judge in Missouri handed down the sentence Thursday against Juan Remberto Rivas. Prosecutors wanted a much longer term, up to 51 months, but they said he probably wasn't trying to cause the plane to crash. The incident happened on an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., in 2022. Passengers subdued the man after a flight attendant hit him over the head with a metal coffee pot.