Scarborough city councillor Michael Thompson says his flight home from a vacation in Jamaica was anything but mundane after he was forced to negotiate with and ultimately restrain a man who at one point claimed he was going to “take the plane down.”

Thompson’s Air Canada flight from Jamaica to Toronto was forced to land in Orlando, Fla., on Monday night after authorities said a passenger threatened passengers, swung a coffee pot at cabin staff and tried to push open a hatch in mid-flight.

An FBI criminal complaint says Air Canada Rouge flight 1805 was minutes into its flight after taking off from Montego Bay when it encountered turbulence.

Cabin crew and passengers told the FBI that a man sitting in the first class section of the cabin began yelling at people sitting near him not to look at him and later allegedly threw a “wad of paper” at a woman sitting near him.

Bonnie Lyn told CTV Toronto she was sitting in the row ahead of the man with her husband.

She said flight attendants offered him a free iPad rental to calm him down. He then asked a nearby passenger for a pen, only to later allegedly threaten to “shank” the man with it.

A flight attendant later convinced the man to move to a seat in the rear of the flight, but the FBI alleges he continued causing problems.

He allegedly grabbed a full hot pot of coffee and swung it at staff members, who were trying to get him to calm down and return to his seat.

Thompson said he “had a particular encounter with the hot coffee pot he was trying to throw at me,” as he attempted to talk the man down and “prevent him from taking certain actions that would endanger the safety of the plane.”

Thompson said he sat next to the man at one point, attempted to reason with him, but talking didn’t work.

The suspect then stated to everyone that “it would only take one guy to take the plane down” and that “he wanted to take everyone with him,” the FBI alleges.

A flight attendant then confronted the man and he allegedly lunged toward the rear cabin exit door and attempted to pull it open. Lyn said he had the main latch three quarters of the way down before he was stopped.

Cabin doors on modern passenger airplanes open inward, and are held shut by the tremendous difference in air pressure between the inside of the cabin and the outside, along with several mechanical and electrical fail-safes. Air Canada said in a statement that it is "impossible" to open an cabin door mid-flight.

At that point four passengers and a number of crew members then tackled the man and brought him to a seat so he could be restrained with zip ties.

Thompson said the man was still attempting to pull the latch of the cabin door down as he was being restrained.

During the encounter, which the FBI and passengers on the plane lasted a total of 45 minutes to one hour, Thompson said various passengers panicked.

“There were people crying, people asking if we could land the plane so they could get off.”

Thompson and several others bound the man’s arms and legs with zip ties; Thompson says he was tasked with the man’s legs.

“We didn’t attempt to injure him or anything we just wanted to get control of the situation.”

When asked why crew and passengers decided to take the subject down at the point he was attempting to open a cabin door, Thompson suggested that at that point, everyone aboard seemed to have had enough.

“I think we had all come to the conclusion that it wasn’t going to get better.”

The FBI says the flight touched down in Orlando at 8:05 p.m. Monday.

Customs and Border Patrol officers along with police took the suspect away, while FBI agents conducted interviews with passengers and crew.

The suspect, identified as Brandon Michael Courneyea, faces federal charges including assaulting a flight crew member.

That offence carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.

Thompson said he first spotted Courneyea in the departure lounge of the airport in Montego Bay. He said he appeared to be travelling alone.

Thompson said he did not believe alcohol played a factor in the incident.