STANFORD, Calif. - The man who burst into the cockpit of a San Francisco-bound Alaska Airlines plane and allegedly tried to grab the plane's controls may have been suffering from delirium caused by viral encephalitis, according to a 138-page report from the man's doctors.
The viral encephalitis diagnosis means Peter Bradley, 39, of Blue Springs, Mo., could have been hallucinating when he allegedly broke into the cockpit and struggled with the plane's crew on March 16.
The report from Stanford University Medical Center doctors has not been made public, but was presented to a federal prosecutors at a hearing Thursday.
Bradley's attorney, Jerrold Ladar, told The San Francisco Examiner the doctors found signs of encephalitis and ''coupled with a variety of other factors that had all come together to create a state of delirium.'' It is unclear what the other factors were.
Passengers on the Alaska Airlines flight from Mexico told police Bradley broke into the cockpit cursing and shouting ''I'm going to kill you'' while trying to grab at the plane's controls. He was wrestled away by the pilot and subdued by fellow passengers, police say. Only the co-pilot was hurt in the altercation, needing stitches on his hand.
Bradley, a carpenter, has no history of criminal activity or mental health problems. He is charged with assaulting a flight crew member and committing an act of violence that was likely to endanger other on the plane. He has been freed on $100,000 bail and is back in Missouri awaiting trial.
