Inset: Evan Sims (WTLV/YouTube). Background: A Breeze Airways plane headed to Orlando on the tarmac, January 2024 (WPXI/YouTube).
After the Breeze Airways flight he was on was diverted to Jacksonville, Florida, because Evan Sims made two separate claims that his then-girlfriend had a bomb on board, dumped his drink on her and called her a “b—-,” the 41-year-old man had just one question for the FBI agent interviewing him as bomb detection dogs searched the fuselage: “How f—– am I?”
On Thursday, Sims, a resident of Rhode Island, was sentenced to two years in prison with eight months credit since he had been jailed since his arrest in early December 2023.
According to a statement from the U.S. Justice Department, Sims pleaded guilty in March. As part of his sentence, he must pay a little more than $25,000 in restitution to the airline.
An FBI affidavit unraveled the drama that unfolded aboard Breeze Airways Flight 717 leaving from Orlando International Airport to Providence, Rhode Island.
Sims, the special agent reported, was traveling on Dec. 5, 2023, with his romantic partner at the time and the couple had begun to argue. The woman was identified only as “TC” in court records.
Witnesses told agents that from the start of the flight, Sims could be heard babbling about how he would “fire up a Vape” and when “TC” told him to stop, he muttered about not having heard of the airline and then stated he didn’t want to be “gone with the wind” and hoped the airliner wouldn’t “go down.”
Agents learned that “TC” told Sims several times that their relationship was over and she begged him to leave her alone. The woman said Sims refused to do so and eventually dumped a drink on her as he hurled insults at her, including calling her a “b—-.”
He was also aggressive with staff on the plane and obnoxious to fellow passengers, prompting several people to request seat changes far from Sims. At one point, court records indicate that after the flight had already taken off and the seat belt light was still on, Sims “partially stood up in his seat and exclaimed that he wanted to get off the plane.”
An off-duty police officer was also on board, however, and overheard Sims making a fuss. Records show that’s when the pilot learned of the disturbance and made the call to divert to Jacksonville International Airport.
“A flight attendant stated that it appeared to her that Sims appeared to be satisfied with the diversion announcement and was smirking while other passengers appeared upset,” the affidavit states.
When the plane landed, Sims and “TC” were detained and bomb detection dogs were used to sweep the vessel
Sims told FBI agents he was only “making ‘jokes’ about the airplane ‘going down”” and that he was nervous flying.
His girlfriend had just broken up with him, he said, and he “did not want to fly up to Rhode Island anymore.”
He didn’t say “bomb,” either, he claimed, “because he generally does not use that word and has a very dark sense of humor.”
“Sims did not think he would say the word ‘bomb’ but suggested that he said ‘calm’ and that passengers misconstrued what he said.
He told the FBI that he was “only human” however and “could have” used “‘bomb’ on accident one time, but ‘definitely not twice,’” he said.
As the interview wrapped up that’s when Sims turned to the agent and asked how much trouble he was in.
“How f—– am I?” he said, according to the affidavit.
When Sims was sentenced on Wednesday for his behavior aboard the Breeze Airways flight, Jacksonville NBC affiliate WTLV reported that he expressed remorse and said he had been drinking too much.
In a sentencing memorandum provided to the federal judge overseeing the case, an attorney for Sims expressed that Sims “desperately wants substance abuse treatment and mental health counseling to be part of any sentence he receives.”
“He is tired of drinking and causing trouble because of it. This period has helped him to realize that he needs to cut not just substances, but also alcohol, out of his life completely. Mr. Sims recognizes that he needs help getting there though,” the memorandum states.
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