News

A minor league hockey player was arrested after allegedly slapping a flight attendant, head-butting a passenger and exposing himself on an American Airlines flight from Toronto to Dallas.

FBI agents arrested David Cornacchia on Thursday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport on a federal charge of interfering with a flight crew.

The incident was first reported Friday night by Dallas TV station KTVT.

Cornacchia plays for the Florida Everblades, a team in the ECHL based in Fort Myers, Fla. The Everblades beat the host Mississippi Sea Wolves 5-4 Friday in a shootout.

The team's general manager did not immediately return a phone message left by The Associated Press. The AP could not reach Cornacchia for comment.

According to a probable cause affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Dallas, Cornacchia became angry with a flight attendant after he was refused a third alcoholic drink. Cornacchia slapped the male flight attendant with an open hand, a detail confirmed by American Airlines.

Cornacchia began cursing at other passengers and exposed himself to them, according to the affidavit. Flight attendants and an assisting passenger then secured Cornacchia's hands behind his back with plastic restraints and belted him into a seat. Cornacchia head-butted the passenger who was helping restrain him, according to the affidavit.

The pilot declared an on-board emergency and was granted a direct approach to the airport by air traffic control in Dallas, according to the affidavit.

According to the affidavit, Cornacchia told FBI agents he drank seven or eight alcoholic beverages on the day of the incident.