Kevin Kennedy Subdues Man Threatening to Blow Up Plane

TAMPA, Fla. -- Former Major League Baseball manager Kevin Kennedy was among eight individuals who subdued a man threatening to blow up a Delta flight from Los Angeles to Tampa, Fla., early Friday morning.

"He said, 'I'm gonna blow the plane up and take all of you to hell with me,'" Kennedy told FanHouse.

At that point, Kennedy, along with seven other passengers, charged Stanley Dwayne Sheffield and eventually subdued him, Kennedy said.

The plane landed in Albuquerque, N.M., at 3:37 a.m. Friday where Sheffield was taken into custody by the FBI.

Kennedy, 55, is a television analyst for the Tampa Bay Rays. He previously managed the Texas Rangers from 1993-94 and the Boston Red Sox from 1995-96.

Delta Flight 2148 left Los Angeles at 10:25 p.m. Thursday night on its way to Tampa. About two hours into the flight, Kennedy, who was in first class in Seat 2C, was awakened by the shouting of Sheffield, who originally was in Seat 3D.

"It woke us all up," Kennedy told FanHouse before working Friday night's Tampa Bay-Toronto game in St. Petersburg, Fla. "There was a period of about 8-10 minutes where this went on [Sheffield's raising his voice].

"He was crossing himself with a bottle of water and throwing water and saying Satan was staying behind with us."

Other passengers tried to tell him to relax and settle down, but to no avail, Kennedy said.

"Most of us [on the plane] were asleep and he went in the bathroom and tried to get into the cockpit through there," Kennedy said. "The flight attendant couldn't get him to sit down.

"Some of the guys looked around, and we knew this was for real. This wasn't a drill. All eight did a great job. It was a group charge. He went on his stomach quick. Everyone was phenomenal. There were probably four or five of us on him. I had his left arm."

After Sheffield, 46, was subdued, he was tied up with a belt and plastic handcuffs that the flight attendants provided, but broke out of both, Kennedy said.

Sheffield earlier had tried to jimmy open the cockpit door, break into the cockpit through the bathroom and pry open one of the doors of the airplane, Kennedy said.

When Sheffield threatened to blow up the plane, Kennedy said everyone just reacted.

"I thought he had a bomb on him, I didn't think about dying, but how to prevent that," Kennedy said.

Kennedy said he believed all of Sheffield's acts were premeditated, and that he had waited until most of the passengers were asleep before trying to break into the cockpit.

According to a complaint filed in federal court, after a flight attendant asked Sheffield to return to his seat, Sheffield threatened: "I am going to bring this plane down. ... You need to land this plane or I'm going to blow it up [and] I will blow up this plane and take you all with me," CNN reported.

The complaint said passengers "engaged Sheffield in a struggle and restrained him" when he approached the cockpit door.

The man sustained minor injuries during the struggle. He was treated for his injuries, then turned over to the FBI, the report said.

Albuquerque's KRQE-TV reported that the FBI didn't believe the incident was terrorism-related but didn't know if drugs or alcohol were involved.

Contact FanHouse senior writer Brett McMurphy at brettmcmurphy@gmail.com or on Twitter @BrettmcmurphY.