Man accused of making bomb threat that forced Chicago-bound flight to land in Michigan, feds say

An Illinois man was charged with making a fake bomb threat that diverted a Chicago-bound American Airlines flight to Detroit, where it made an emergency landing over the weekend.

A federal criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of Michigan claims Jason Douglas Pazol “engaged in conduct with the intent to convey false or misleading information.”

Pazol, charged with making a false bomb threat, was on board flight AA2819 from New York with over 150 other passengers and crew Sunday when he “loudly threatened” to blow the flight up, according to the complaint.

Pazol is listed as a teacher at Kildeer Countryside Elementary in suburban Long Grove, according to their website. The school didn’t immediately verify whether Pazol was still employed there when reached by the Sun-Times.

Reviewed video by an FBI agent shows Pazol with his head in his hands yelling, “If someone even near me, I swear to God, I am going to do something terrible. Land this f – – – – – – plane, right now.”

A woman who possibly was Pazol’s wife was talking to aircraft personnel about his medication when the yelling started.

The complaint states Pazol continued yelling things like “I know I’m paranoid. So you better not be near me” and “I will blow this f – – – – – – plane up. And you heard it, you heard it everybody. You heard me say that, I want this plane on the ground.”

Flight personnel then went into “bomb threat protocol” and made an emergency landing at Detroit Metropolitan Airport in Romulus, Michigan, authorities said. Pazol was then detained and taken to a hospital for evaluation.

After Pazol was detained, he admitted to threatening to blow up the plane and told FBI agents he had “racing thoughts” and had a breakdown on the plane after having problems with his medication, officials said. He added that he made the threat “to force the aircraft to land” because “he felt passengers weren’t safe around him.”

A search confirmed that no explosives were found on the plane, any luggage or any passengers on the plane, the complaint states.