Unruly passenger causes flight to return to Phila. Int'l Airport

PHILADELPHIA (WPVI) -- Federal authorities have identified the passenger whose alleged unruly behavior forced a USAirways flight to London to return to Philadelphia International Airport early Wednesday morning.

40-year-old Robert John Coppack of LaVerne, California appeared here in federal court Wednesday afternoon and is being held until a detention hearing on Monday.

It was quite a disruption for the crew and passengers aboard USAirways flight 728 Wednesday morning. They left Philadelphia at 10:26 last night and were back here at 1:00 this morning - far short of their original destination.

Federal agents say Coppack told the two women seated in his row that he had been drinking vodka and started groping them.

That was just the start.

Assistant US Attorney Sara Grieb says, "There's an allegation in the affidavit that he inappropriately touched some of the passengers next to him and then also one of the females as he was walking back towards the back of the flight."

Coppack was eventually escorted to the back of the plane and was subdued by U.S. Marshals.

The plane, with 780 passengers, was forced to turn around off the coast and returned to Philadelphia.

Authorities say the plane would have returned sooner, but it had to circle for a while to burn off some of the heavy load of fuel it was carrying for the trans-Atlantic crossing.

Coppack was taken off the plane and was turned over to the FBI here in Philadelphia.

After law enforcement officials were able to interview the flight crew and passengers the plane then took off again bound for London's Heathrow Airport around 2:00 a.m. - three and a half hours behind schedule.

Coppack is a dual citizen of the United States and the United Kingdom. Action News spoke with his mother, who says he was returning to England to live there. She says she doesn't understand his behavior and mentioned that he had been on pain medication after an injury.

However, now he's stuck here in the U.S., charged with intimidation of a flight crew member or attendant of an aircraft, interfering with the performance of the duties of the member or attendant, lessening the ability of the member or attendant to perform those duties within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States.