Airline Passenger to Face Assault Charges

A passenger on a weekend flight to Atlanta has been ordered held in custody on charges of assaulting four people.

Hung Cong Duong, 30, of Vietnam was held after his arraignment Monday afternoon in Las Vegas. His preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 6.

FBI spokesman Kevin Caudle said Duong was on a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta early Saturday when he became upset that a flight attendant would not serve him before other passengers.

Duong turned over the beverage cart, burning a 17-month-old baby and her mother with hot coffee, Caudle said. He assaulted a 12-year-old girl and another woman on his way back to his seat.

Duong was turned over the FBI agents after pilots decided to land the plane at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas. He was charged with interference with a flight crew.

During Monday’s hearing before Chief Justice of the Peace Nancy Osterle, Jason Ferris, a law clerk representing the federal government, asked Osterle to detain Duong, arguing that he was a danger to society and a flight risk.

Jason Carr, an assistant federal public defender, said his client has lived in the United States since 1991 and has family and work in Tampa, Fla. His passport was also confiscated by authorities, he said.

Carr told the judge that Duong should not be considered a threat because he has no criminal history.

The infant was treated at University Medical Center and released.