Montana Woman Faces Prison Time, Hefty Fine for Lunging at Controls on Commercial Flight

A passenger aboard a small commercial airplane pleaded guilty to interfering with an aircraft in flight on Thursday after she lunged at the controls during its landing in Havre, Mont.

36-year-old Tracy Lynn Eagleman faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release after causing the aircraft to accelerate and turn on the runway, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana.

The release states the court presided under Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris will determine any sentence on Dec. 11 after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Eagleman was detained pending further proceedings.

U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich represents the government in prosecuting the case. According to court documents, the government alleged that on March 21, 2023, Eagleman was a passenger on Cape Air flight 1793, a Cessna 402 that departed from Billings, Mont., and was bound for Havre. 10 miles out from Havre, Eagleman stood up and started yelling about the landing.

The release states that the flight crew – a captain and first officer – were able to calm Eagleman down and get her back into her seat. However, just as the aircraft touched down, Eagleman lunged forward from her seat and hit the flight controls.

Eagleman hit the throttle for one of the two engines, causing it to accelerate and prompting the plane to yaw on the runway. During this time, the plane was traveling between 70 and 75 knots – approximately 80 miles per hour. The flight crew was able to regain control of the aircraft without further incident, and eventually taxied safely to the airport terminal.

The release adds that one of the passengers recorded the incident on a cell phone. This recording failed to capture the moment Eagleman lunged at the control deck, but other passengers are heard yelling in fear.

In later interviews, the flight crew said that yawing at 70 knots in an unbalanced aircraft could cause it to roll and crash. The FBI and Hill County Sheriff’s Office investigated this case.

A report published by the Havre Weekly Chronicle states Eagleman was previously arrested on March 2, 2017 on charges of criminal trespass to vehicles and endangering the welfare of children after a local business caller on First Street East reported a woman with two little girls was “walking up and down checking cars.”

Hill County District Court documents show Eagleman was found guilty of one felony charge of endangering the welfare of children and two misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass to vehicles on March 19, 2018.

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