Unruly passenger suffers from schizophrenia, cousin says Updated Feb. 23, 10:25 a.m. PORTLAND -- A flight out of Portland International Airport returned to the terminal Tuesday, after the flight crew had a problem with a belligerent Saudi Arabian passenger who was yelling about terrorism, according to authorities. He was charged Wednesday in federal court with interfering with the operation of the aircraft. A cousin flying with him said Abunayyan suffers from schizophrenia. He was headed home to see his ill mother and had not taken his medication for several weeks, according to a report in the Medford Mail Tribune. The cousin, Fahad Alsubaie, 21, told the paper he was escorted off the plane with Abunayyan. Alsubaie said the disruption began after a flight attendant confronted the two for sitting together, because Alsubaie was in the wrong seat. I was going to ride back with him, just to make sure he was safe. They didn't want us to sit together," said Alsubaie, a Saudi Arabian exchange student studying English at Southern Oregon University in Ashland. Abunayyan was arrested Sunday in Ashland for DUI and several other charges after police said he hit two patrol cars and nearly ran over a pedestrian during a police chase, according to the Ashland Daily Tidings paper. On the plane, witnesses said Abunayyan refused to turn off an electronic cigarette when asked by airline staff, according to Port of Portland spokesman Steve Johnson. This story originally appeared on KGW.com, the NBC News affiliate in Portland, Ore.