An allegedly intoxicated traveler flying from Dublin to Seattle needed more than half a dozen people to immobilize him after he tried to force pills into a stranger’s mouth, “violently” shook another passenger’s seat, and “aggressively” wrapped his arms around a flight attendant before threatening to “f*** [her] up,” according to a criminal complaint unsealed Monday.
While the plane was over Greenland or Canada, James Bradley Noble required “approximately seven flight attendants… to restrain [him] with handcuffs and straps on the seat,” the complaint states. “During the restraint process, Noble resisted and was described as flailing.”
Once Noble had been subdued, he soon “began to violently resist his restraints to the point that the restraints began to fail,” the complaint goes on.
“This lasted for about two hours,” it says.
Seattle police arrested Noble when the flight finally touched down at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The investigation was then handed over to the FBI, which has jurisdiction over crimes committed aboard commercial aircraft traveling to the U.S.
Aer Lingus, and Noble’s public defender, Colleen Fitzharris, did not immediately respond on Tuesday to requests for comment.
On June 19, Noble boarded Aer Lingus flight EI53 in Dublin, and took his seat in row 14, according to the complaint.
The woman sitting next to Noble “had noticed at some point during the flight that [his] behavior had changed after drinking beverages assumed to be alcohol,” the complaint continues.
“Noble exhibited behavior described as being intoxicated, stumbling and being disruptive,” the complaint alleges. “Noble then began exhibiting harassing behavior towards [his seatmate].”
That’s when Noble “began gesturing to force pills into her mouth, followed by physical gestures resembling a closed fist,” according to the complaint. He then spilled soda on the woman, who reported the goings-on to the flight crew, which moved her to business class to get away from Noble, the complaint states.
A passenger sitting across the aisle from Noble told cops she saw him take a pill, after which she herself fell asleep for about 30 minutes, the complaint says. When she woke up, the passenger noticed that Noble had put a bottle of wine on her seat, according to the complaint.
Roughly halfway through the 10-hour journey, Noble approached a flight attendant working the mid-galley area “from behind, then aggressively wrapped his arms around [her], holding [her] from behind,” the complaint alleges.
It says the supervising flight attendant told Noble that what he was doing was “inappropriate,” as the first flight attendant escorted Noble back to his seat and “held [him] down… from the row behind… for approximately twenty minutes,” the complaint states.
“During this time[,] Noble shook a seat in the row in front of him violently, resulting in the flight crew also moving those passengers elsewhere,” according to the complaint. “Noble then stated to [the flight attendant holding his shoulders], ‘I’m going to f*** you up.’”
This, the complaint contends, was seen as a “credible threat,” and the cabin crew notified the cockpit about Noble’s “escalating behavior” before moving the passengers around Noble to other seats so he could be restrained for the remainder of the trip.
He finally calmed down about 60 to 90 minutes before landing, according to the complaint.
“Due to Noble’s behavior, cabin service was ceased and flight attendants were unable to perform their primary duties or take necessary breaks,” the complaint states.
Upon landing, Noble was arrested and charged the following day with interference with flight crew members and attendants, a federal crime carrying up to 20 years in prison.
Noble appeared in court on Monday, and was ordered detained.
On Sunday, an American Airlines flight from Charlotte, North Carolina to Philadelphia devolved into bedlam when an unidentified passenger allegedly bit another traveler and tried to fight various others, prompting a police response upon touching down.
In May, a woman exhibiting “erratic and emotionally unbalanced behavior” aboard an American flight from Palm Beach to Charlotte was arrested and charged after allegedly attacking an 82-year-old man sitting next to her, resulting in “injuries to his head and brain,” according to authorities.
Last year, Dennis Wally Woodbury, a former California Highway Patrol captain was indicted for slapping a male flight attendant’s buttocks and exposing himself after drinking an entire bottle of prosecco aboard a JetBlue flight from Florida to California.
There have been 754 unruly passenger reports referred to the Federal Aviation Administration so far in 2026; an all-time high was set in 2021, with 5,973 referrals. The FAA maintains a “zero-tolerance” policy for disruptive passengers, who face – in addition to criminal penalties – can be fined up to $43,658 per violation.
Noble is scheduled to make his next court appearance on June 30.
