A 19-year-old flight attendant for Compass Airlines was arrested Wednesday after allegedly setting fire to an airplane restroom during a flight from Minneapolis to Regina, Saskatchewan, according to the Associated Press.
Eder Rojas, of Woodbury, Minn., was charged in U.S. District Court in Fargo, N.D., a day after his arrest in Minneapolis. The charge, setting fire aboard a civil aircraft, carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Rojas was ordered held without bail.
The May 7 Compass Airlines flight, which carried 72 passengers and four crew members, was forced to make an emergency landing in Fargo after smoke filled the back of the plane. No injuries were reported.
According to court statements, Rojas said he was upset for having to work the route and allegedly set fire inside a paper towel compartment in the plane's restroom.
Chantilly, Va.-based Compass Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northwest Airlines, began flying regional flights for Northwest in 2007.
Calls seeking comment on the case were not returned.