§2A5.2 Interference with Flight Crew Member or Flight Attendant: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2017
Under guideline §2A5.2 in fiscal year 2017, 12 of the 20 people sentenced (60%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 6.5 months. Another 6 people (30%) received probation only. The count of 20 people is lower than the 32 in fiscal year 2016.
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In brief: Under guideline §2A5.2 in fiscal year 2017, 12 of the 20 people sentenced (60%) received a prison term, and the median prison term was 6.5 months. Another 6 people (30%) received probation only. The count of 20 people is lower than the 32 in fiscal year 2016.
This post uses the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 20 people sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017. Acquittals and dismissals come from a second source, the Federal Judicial Center's records of 753,808 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. It is part of the Federal Prosecution Analysis series, which builds on Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System. How the numbers were built: How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built.
Prison and Probation in Fiscal Year 2017
The U.S. Sentencing Commission counted 20 people in fiscal year 2017 whose primary guideline was §2A5.2. Of them, 12 (60%) were sentenced to prison, and 6 (30%) received probation only, with no prison or other confinement.
The median prison term was 6.5 months. A quarter of the people sent to prison received 9 months or more, and a quarter received 4.8 months or less. For all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline, 65% were sent to prison, and the median prison term was 8 months.
Trial Convictions Were Rare but Present
Of the 20 people, 17 (85%) pleaded guilty, and 3 were convicted after a trial. The share of guilty pleas is lower than the 95% for all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under §2A5.2.
The median prison term after a guilty plea was 6.5 months. After a trial, it was 6 months, based on 2 people convicted at trial and sent to prison. Those medians are close, but a group of 2 is too small to support a conclusion about trials.
Plea Agreements and Straight Pleas
Among the guilty pleas, 76% had a written plea agreement, and 24% were straight pleas with no agreement. A mandatory minimum prison term applied to 0 of the 20 people (0%).
The Commission's data counts only people who were convicted and sentenced. Acquittals and dismissals are not in it.
Sentences Against the Guideline Range
Within the guideline range were 13 of the 20 sentences (65%). Below the range without a government request were 6 (30%), and 1 (5%) was above the range. None was below the range at the government's request.
The 65% is higher than the 59% for all fiscal years 2016 to 2025 under this guideline. It is also higher than the 49% for everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 under every guideline.
Restitution, Fines, Supervised Release, and Criminal History
Restitution was ordered for 6 people (30%), and a fine for 2 (10%). Supervised release after prison was ordered for 11 people (55%), with a median term of 36 months.
In criminal history, 70% were in the lowest category, Category I, and 5% were in the highest, Category VI. Court-martial records have no criminal history field.
What the Guideline Covers
The Sentencing Guidelines Manual titles §2A5.2 "Interference with Flight Crew Member or Flight Attendant; Interference with Dispatch, Navigation, Operation, or Maintenance of Mass Transportation Vehicle; Unsafe Operation of Unmanned Aircraft." The Commission files these cases under the offense type Other.
Fiscal year 2017 ran from October 1, 2016 to September 30, 2017. A case is counted here when this was the primary guideline, the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
Neighboring Years and the Federal Total
In fiscal year 2016, 32 people were sentenced under §2A5.2, the median prison term was 9 months, and 53% of sentences were within the range. In fiscal year 2018, 18 people were sentenced, the median prison term was 6.1 months, and 72% were within the range.
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017, under every guideline, totaled 66,873 people, with a median prison term of 24 months and 97% guilty pleas. The table shows each year's count, median, and plea rate.
| Fiscal year | People sentenced | Median prison | Pleaded guilty |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 32 | 9 months | 91% |
| 2017 | 20 | 6.5 months | 85% |
| 2018 | 18 | 6.1 months | 100% |
| 2019 | 27 | 7 months | 96% |
| 2020 | 16 | 10 months | 100% |
| 2021 | 25 | 8 months | 96% |
| 2022 | 27 | 10 months | 96% |
| 2023 | 20 | 6 months | 100% |
| 2024 | 30 | 10.5 months | 93% |
| 2025 | 29 | 8.4 months | 100% |
Limits on These Figures
With 20 people in one year, a small change in a few cases can move a percentage by a large amount. The records do not show what any case involved or the reasons for a sentence.
No close court-martial counterpart for §2A5.2 exists in the approved crosswalk. This post therefore gives federal figures only.
How We Counted
Everyone sentenced in federal court in fiscal year 2017 whose primary sentencing guideline was §2A5.2 (20), U.S. Sentencing Commission individual data files. The primary guideline is the one that set the offense level for the most serious count.
Federal fiscal years run from October 1 to September 30. No person, judge, or lawyer is identified in any of these records.
What to Keep in Mind
No parole in federal prison; credit for good conduct. Federal prison has no parole for crimes committed on or after November 1, 1987. A federal prisoner can earn up to 54 days of good conduct credit for each year of the sentence the judge imposed, which is about 15%. Some federal prisoners can also earn First Step Act time credits, but many offenses make a person ineligible. The numbers in this post are the sentences judges imposed, not the time people actually served.
Federal supervised release. Most federal prison sentences are followed by a term of supervised release that the judge sets as part of the sentence. A person who violates it can be sent back to prison. A court-martial cannot sentence anyone to supervision after release. Military parole and mandatory supervised release are decided later by a board, not by the judge at trial.
Who decides the sentence, and under what rules. Federal judges sentence every federal case. They must calculate the Sentencing Guidelines range, which is advisory, and must impose any mandatory minimum the statute requires unless an exception applies. In courts-martial, the accused could choose sentencing by members until the rules changed. For cases in which every guilty finding is for an offense committed after December 27, 2023, a military judge sentences alone, within sentencing parameters. Courts-martial tried in 2024 and later include both old-rule and new-rule cases, and the data cannot tell them apart.
Time periods. Federal numbers are by federal fiscal year (October 1 to September 30), based on the sentencing date. The military numbers are by trial date. Neither source has the date of the offense, so a change in law shows up in either data set gradually.
How life sentences and "time served" are counted. In the federal numbers, a life sentence is counted as 470 months, and any other sentence longer than 470 months is counted as just under 470 months. A sentence of "time served" is counted as one day (0.03 months). Averages are affected by these rules; medians much less.
Related Analysis
- Military Moves Toward Sentencing Guidelines to Mirror the Federal System (the background article)
- Federal Prosecution Analysis (all federal posts)
- How the Federal Comparison Data Was Built (sources and method)
- §2A5.2 Interference with Flight Crew Member or Flight Attendant: Federal Sentences, FY2016–2025 (overview)
- §2A5.2 Interference with Flight Crew Member or Flight Attendant: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2016 (previous or next fiscal year)
- §2A5.2 Interference with Flight Crew Member or Flight Attendant: Federal Sentences, Fiscal Year 2018 (previous or next fiscal year)
- How Often Federal Judges Sentence Outside the Guideline Range
- Mandatory Minimums: How Many Federal Sentences Are Set by Congress
- U.S. Sentencing Commission, Individual Offender Datafiles (source)
- Federal Judicial Center, Integrated Database (criminal defendants) (source)
About the author. Jocelyn C. Stewart is a retired Army JAG with more than 24 years of trying courts-martial and more than 200 jury trials. She hosts Where All The Bodies Are Buried and runs the Law Office of Jocelyn C. Stewart. This analysis is for education and information only. It is not legal advice, and every case is different.