Passenger is subdued aboard Honolulu flight

An alert flight attendant aided by quick-acting passengers intercepted a 25-year-old Turkish national who law enforcement officials said was attempting to reach the cockpit of an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Honolulu on Friday.

The disturbance prompted two ­Hawaii Air National Guard F-22 Raptor fighter jets to scramble to the airspace and escort American Airlines Flight 31 as it landed safely in Honolulu at 11:35 a.m. The passenger, whom the FBI identified as Anil T. Uskanli, was arrested by waiting FBI and law enforcement officers.

The Los Angeles Airport Police later confirmed that its officers had arrested Uskanli earlier that morning for attempting to access a restricted area of LAX. Uskanli was released just hours before boarding the flight to ­Hawaii.

A passenger named Veronica, who declined to give her last name, said she saw Uskanli at the gate at LAX before passengers boarded Flight 31.

“I just thought he was a weird character,” she said, noting he was carrying a laptop and pacing while smoking an e-cigarette. She said airport personnel told him to stop smoking.

“He just continued to pace back and forth, play with his hair,” said Veronica, who is from Sacramento, Calif.

Uskanli was a conspicuous presence even before the plane took off.

Passengers at baggage claim in ­Honolulu told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser that when Uskanli first boarded the flight, he sat in the first-class section even though he didn’t have a ticketed seat there.

The Associated Press ­reported that Mark and Donna Basden of New Mexico were among the first to board the plane and found a laptop in the seat pocket in front of Mark Basden’s seat. They informed a flight attendant, who said it likely belonged to a man in the bathroom.

Then a “disheveled-looking fellow” — Uskanli — walked out, Donna Basden said.

Mark Basden handed the laptop to Uskanli, who scowled at him, inspected the computer and then tried to sit in another seat in first class.

Donna Basden said Uskanli — who was described as having long, wavy hair and wearing a black leather jacket — “clearly looked out of place,” but he didn’t say anything.

The flight attendant checked Uskanli’s boarding pass and asked him to return to his assigned seat in Row 35.

About three hours into the flight, Uskanli walked toward the front of the plane, carrying his laptop and wearing a blanket over his shoulders and head.

“He was very quiet, moving very sluggish,” said passenger Grant Arakelian. “He was trying to approach the cabin, like where the captain is.”

First-class passengers Lee and Penny Lorenzen of Orange County, Calif., were sitting in first class and saw a “really serious look” on the flight attendant’s face as she saw Uskanli approaching.

The attendant ran down the aisle with her serving cart and blocked the doorway separating first class from the rest of the plane.

“She jammed the cart in the doorway, and she just said, ‘You’re not coming in here,’” Lee Lorenzen said.

He said Uskanli pushed against the cart in an attempt to get through. In response to the attendant’s request for help, other passengers, including an off-duty Los Angeles police officer, came up from behind and grabbed Uskanli. He was taken to the back of the plane and restrained with duct tape for the rest of the flight.

“The flight attendants just were really heroic,” Lorenzen said. “By the time we landed and the FBI took him into custody, he was very mellow.”

Passengers said the incident was over in a couple of minutes.

As Uskanli was being subdued, the cockpit called for help. Federal agents were sent to wait for the plane, and two F-22 Raptors from the Hawaii Air National Guard scrambled to meet it.

Lt. Col. Chuck Anthony, spokesman for the Hawaii Air National Guard, said two F-22s launched at 10:30 a.m. They landed at 11:30 a.m. after “the F-22s safely escorted the airliner in.”

“We got that military escort coming into Honolulu,” Donna Basden said with a laugh, “so welcome to ­Hawaii.”

American Airlines spokeswoman Katie Cody said the Flight 31 crew requested law enforcement meet the plane upon landing because of a “passenger disturbance.”

Cody said there were 181 passengers and six crew members aboard the flight.

Paul Delacourt, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Honolulu Division, said Uskanli did not breach the cockpit of the plane and that no explosives were found.

“It’s important to note that we are not aware of any other threats to American Airlines or any other aircraft,” he said.

Uskanli was expected to undergo a precautionary medical evaluation before being sent to the Federal Detention Center, Delacourt said.

At about 5:45 a.m. Hawaii time, six hours before the flight to Honolulu, a contractor at LAX spotted Uskanli opening a door that led onto an airfield ramp and alerted police.

Officers determined Uskanli had been drinking but didn’t meet the criteria to be arrested for being drunk in public, police said. Instead, he was arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor trespassing and given a date to appear in court but was allowed to board the flight to Honolulu.

Uskanli’s laptop may have heightened concern about his actions, as U.S. and European officials in recent weeks have exchanged warnings about bombs potentially being hidden in laptop computers. Laptops have been banned on a handful of international flights and could soon be outlawed on far more.

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly was briefed on the midair disturbance, according to a statement from the department. There are no other reports of disruptions, but the department said it was monitoring all flights Friday out of caution.

The incident resulted in a temporary slowdown at ­Honolulu International Airport. State Department of Transportation officials said a 30-minute backlog was caused by the halting of all ground movements on the airfield as the flight came in.

Normal operations had resumed by the afternoon, the DOT reported.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.