49 U.S.C. 46504, Interference with flight crew members and attendants: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025
For federal defendants whose most serious charge fell under 49 U.S.C. 46504, 107 of 144 defendants (74%) pleaded guilty, and 24 (17%) had their charges dismissed. Of the 13 trials, 8 ended in an acquittal (62%). Of the 112 convicted, 81 (72%) received a prison term on that charge, with a median of 7
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Trends › Federal Prosecution Analysis › 49 U.S.C. 46504
In brief: For federal defendants whose most serious charge fell under 49 U.S.C. 46504, 107 of 144 defendants (74%) pleaded guilty, and 24 (17%) had their charges dismissed. Of the 13 trials, 8 ended in an acquittal (62%). Of the 112 convicted, 81 (72%) received a prison term on that charge, with a median of 7 months.
This post uses the Federal Judicial Center's records of 144 federal defendants whose cases ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. The series also draws on the U.S. Sentencing Commission's records of 659,036 people sentenced 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.
How the 144 Cases Closed
The Federal Judicial Center counts 144 defendants whose cases under this section ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025. Of these, 107 (74%) pleaded guilty, 24 (17%) had the charges dismissed, and 13 (9%) went to trial.
A dismissal can include charges the government dropped, for example after the defendant pleaded guilty in a different case. The records do not explain individual dismissals.
By plea or verdict, 112 of the 144 (78%) were convicted.
Trial Verdicts
Juries decided 10 of the 13 trials and returned an acquittal in 5 (50%). Judges decided the other 3, and all 3 ended in an acquittal.
The 62% acquittal figure covers trials only. With 13 trials across the whole period, a single verdict changes the percentage by several points, and the figure should be read as a description of these cases, not a rate to expect.
The Statute Heading and the Count
Title 49, section 46504 of the U.S. Code bears the heading "Interference with flight crew members and attendants." No other description of the section is used here.
A defendant is counted when the most serious charge at the end of the case was under this section. The count follows the federal courts' Table D-4 and includes cases that ended in dismissal or acquittal. All 144 charges were felonies.
Prison Terms After Conviction
A prison term on this charge was imposed on 81 of the 112 people convicted (72%). The other convicted defendants received no prison term on this count.
For terms of 1 month or more, the median was 7 months. A median marks the middle of the ranked terms. It does not show the shortest or longest terms, and it does not measure time actually served.
Who Represented the Defendants?
Federal public or community defenders were recorded for 77 defendants (53%). Retained private counsel represented 43 (30%), and CJA panel attorneys, private lawyers appointed by the court, represented 23 (16%).
The plea rate was 81% with federal defenders, 74% with retained counsel, and 57% with CJA panel attorneys. Dismissals were 16%, 14%, and 22% in the same order. Federal defenders had 3 trials with 2 acquittals. Retained counsel and CJA panel attorneys each had 5 trials with 3 acquittals.
These are groups of cases, not ratings of lawyers. Defendants who hire counsel and those who are assigned counsel can face different charges and circumstances, and the groups here are small.
| Type of counsel at the end of the case | Defendants | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Federal public or community defender | 77 | 81% | 16% | 3 | 2 (2 of 3) |
| CJA panel attorney | 23 | 57% | 22% | 5 | 3 (3 of 5) |
| Private (retained) counsel | 43 | 74% | 14% | 5 | 3 (3 of 5) |
Year by Year
Between 10 and 19 cases ended each fiscal year. The guilty plea share ranged from 56% in fiscal year 2016 to 90% in fiscal year 2020. Fiscal year 2016 also had the most trials, 4, with 3 acquittals.
Counts this small can change sharply from year to year. The yearly table shows them without implying a trend.
| Fiscal year | Cases ended | Pleaded guilty | Dismissed | Trials | Acquitted at trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 18 | 56% | 22% | 4 | 3 (3 of 4) |
| 2017 | 17 | 65% | 12% | 4 | 1 (1 of 4) |
| 2018 | 12 | 75% | 17% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2019 | 16 | 88% | 13% | 0 | 0 |
| 2020 | 10 | 90% | 0% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2021 | 10 | 80% | 20% | 0 | 0 |
| 2022 | 19 | 74% | 21% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
| 2023 | 13 | 77% | 23% | 0 | 0 |
| 2024 | 19 | 84% | 11% | 1 | 0 (0 of 1) |
| 2025 | 10 | 60% | 30% | 1 | 1 (1 of 1) |
What These Numbers Leave Out
The data records how a case ended, not the facts of any case or what was said in court. It gives no reason for any dismissal, acquittal, or sentence. There is no close court-martial counterpart in the approved crosswalk, so the post covers federal cases only.
How We Counted
Every federal defendant whose case ended in fiscal years 2016 to 2025 and whose most serious charge at the end of the case (TTITLE1) was under 49 U.S.C. 46504, any subsection (144), Federal Judicial Center, counted as in the federal courts' Table D-4. Type of counsel is TCOUNSEL; labels from the FJC criminal codebook. Section heading from the U.S. Code as published by the Office of the Law Revision Counsel (release point 119-136).
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
Who is in each set of numbers. The federal sentencing numbers come from the U.S. Sentencing Commission. They count only people who were convicted and sentenced in federal district court. People whose cases were dismissed or who were acquitted are not in them. The military numbers come from court-martial results, which include acquittals. To compare acquittal or dismissal rates, the federal side uses a different source: the Federal Judicial Center's case data, which counts every defendant whose case ended.
How "plea" and "trial" are counted. In the federal sentencing numbers, "trial" means the person was convicted after a trial, including people who pleaded guilty to some counts and went to trial on others. People acquitted at trial are not in these numbers at all (see "Who is in each set of numbers"). In the federal case data, the trial rate counts both convictions and acquittals at trial among all defendants whose cases ended, including dismissed cases. Military numbers count contested cases that reached a verdict. These denominators are not the same, and each post states the one it uses.
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.
Type of counsel describes groups of cases, not lawyers. The Federal Judicial Center records the type of counsel at the end of the case. Defendants who hire a lawyer differ from defendants who receive an appointed lawyer in their charges, criminal history, and circumstances, and some defendants change lawyers during a case. Differences in outcomes by type of counsel therefore cannot be credited to the type of lawyer.
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)
- 49 U.S.C. 46314, Entering aircraft or airport area in violation of security requirements: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- 49 U.S.C. 46506, Application of certain criminal laws to acts on aircraft: How Federal Cases Ended, FY2016–2025 (same title of the U.S. Code)
- Appointed vs. Retained Lawyers in Federal Criminal Cases: How Cases Ended, 2016–2025
- Are Courts-Martial More Likely to End in Acquittal Than Federal Trials?
- 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.