Man Gets Naked on Airplane

Keith Wright, 50, from the Bronx, is in federal custody after an incident on a US Airways flight to Los Angeles. Mr. Wright is not a terrorist, nor were his actions a threat to anyone on board the aircraft. He simply removed all his clothes and refused several requests by the flight attendant to put them back on. He did however become combative when the attendant attempted to cover him with a blanket.

Wright, who suffers from a bipolar disorder, and 148 other passengers boarded US Airways flight 705 in Charlotte, NC, bound for Los Angeles on Tuesday evening (6/30/09). He later admitted to authorities that he had not taken his prescription medication that morning before leaving New York. He was seen dancing in a crowded boarding area before the flight, but when approached by Flight Service Supervisor Claudia Kearney, he told her he had drunk one beer. Kearney said she did not smell alcohol on him and determined he was well enough to travel.

Wright boarded the plane with the other passengers and took his seat in the back of the aircraft. It was some time during the flight that Wright decided to take off all his clothes.

"I fell asleep and the ladies fell asleep and I woke up and I turned and she was gone and I was like oh my gosh, this guy is naked!" passenger Lynette Naude said.

Passengers said it was a sight to see. Cell phone pictures taken from inside the plane showed a passenger, identified as Keith Wright from the Bronx, sitting naked in his seat near the rear of the plane.

"One of the flight attendants tried to get the guy to respond, but she got nothing. But then when they tried to cover the guy up, get his clothes back on he started getting physically aggressive," one passenger said.

Wright was unresponsive when a flight attendant asked him to put his clothes back on, said Dan Jiron, a spokesman for the Albuquerque airport. "She asked him on more than one occasion to put on his clothes. She covered him with a blanket and he took that off," Jiron said. That was when Wright punched and kicked the flight attendant, who then asked two off-duty law officers for help.

"We actually had to physically hold him down on the floor and um, handcuff his ankles, his wrists," said Matt McGinnis, who, along with a Los Angeles Police officer and an L.A. sheriff's deputy, helped restrain the man.

The flight attendants also were dealing with an unrelated onboard medical emergency at the same time, which exacerbated the situation, the FBI said. The aircraft was diverted, to Albuquerque, NM, because of the medical emergency, and Wright's actions were a secondary reason for the unplanned landing, the complaint said.

Passenger Ginny Keegan of Detroit was sitting in the front of the plane, when there was commotion coming from the back.

"All of a sudden there was a bunch of activity and a lot of loud things going on and all of a sudden people started getting out of their seats in the back of the plane," she said.

The people on the flight were notified of a violent passenger as the plane began to approach Albuquerque, but Keegan said no one was fearful.

"No one was really panicking. The flight attendants seemed to handle it very well," she said. Keegan said the man was "completely naked" as he was taken in handcuffs off the plane.

Roger Finzel, an assistant federal public defender representing Wright, said he has not yet met with his client and had no information about the case other than what was in the complaint. Wright is in federal custody on a federal charge of interfering with flight crew members and attendants. He is expected to appear in federal court in Albuquerque on Thursday.

The flight was delayed about an hour. Wright told the FBI he recalled nothing about the flight or his behavior.

As the plane took off again, Keegan said the usual announcement to please fasten your seat belts came over the loudspeakers with a twist. The message included "a reminder to everybody to please keep your clothing on. It got a couple chuckles," Keegan said.

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The Cheerleaders and the Nude Photos

Two Cheerleaders at Bothell High School in Bothell, Wa. were suspended from the school squad. The reason? Nude pictures of the two girls were circulated, first among the football team, then to the student body and finally to the administrators of the school. One of the girls received a 30-day suspension and the other was suspended for the rest of the school year.

The parents of the two girls are now calling foul. They have filed lawsuits against the Northshore School District, alleging school officials erred when they suspended the girls from the team.

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Both lawsuits, filed in King County Superior Court, accuse school administrators of violating the girls' due process rights, needlessly sharing the photos with other school staff members and failing to promptly report the matter to police as possible child pornography.

The photos were taken separately. The first photo was taken 3 years ago. It showed the girl topless and was originally sent to the cellphone of her boyfriend at the time. The picture was then accidentally sent to other Bothell High School students.

The other girl's photo was taken in June when she and a fellow cheerleader used their cell phones to each snap photos of themselves naked. That photo too was later accidentally sent to other Bothell High School students.

Shortly after the June photos were taken, school officials heard rumors the pictures were circulating among students, particularly football players. They sent a letter to all cheerleaders' parents, warning that if inappropriate photos were found, it could result in suspension from the squad.

Football players were told to delete the pictures from their cell phones, if they received them, but in August school administrators received copies of both photos. This resulted in the disciplinary action taken against the two girls.

Attorney Matthew King, who represents both families, said it was troubling that only the girls were punished while the football players and other students who sent and received the photos, were not disciplined.

"We're not technically challenging the sanctions as being too strict, we're saying they weren't evenly enforced across the school," King said. "There should have been some punishment meted out to those who were in possession of the photos. ... It seems like the girls are getting the brunt of it."

King argues the district's student handbook didn't specifically prohibit the girls' behavior, and didn't outline potential consequences for a case like this.

"My clients fully realize what they did was stupid," King said, adding that the girls never intended for the photos to be distributed and have been mortified by the entire incident.

He wants the disciplinary action expunged from the girls' school records, the remaining teen reinstated to the cheerleading squad and some form of apology from district officials for neglecting to discipline other students in the case.

Northshore spokeswoman Susan Stoltzfus countered that school officials acted appropriately, reported the matter to police and gave both girls a chance to appeal their suspensions to a disciplinary committee and to the School Board.

"Everyone along the line agreed the discipline was appropriate," she said. "Obviously, we take these things seriously, but we really don't believe this (case) has a lot of merit."

"This is frivolous," Northshore School District attorney Mike Patterson said. "It should never have gone to court and they (the families suing) should recognize that what happened here was created by their own doing."

Northshore officials believe the girls clearly violated the district's athletic code, which students must agree to in order to participate in school activities. The girls understood that as athletes, they would be held to higher standards of behavior, Stoltzfus said.

"When you sign up to be a cheerleader -- or for any student activity -- you agree to certain codes of behavior," she said. "We consider them student leaders, and we want them to be role models."