FARGO - A man accused of charging the cockpit during a United Airlines flight and forcing an emergency landing here on Thanksgiving Day remains jailed after his initial court appearance.

A federal complaint charges Andrew James Smith, 25, of Los Molinos, Calif., with interfering with the duties of a flight crew member. Smith was not asked to enter a plea in court Monday.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Karen Klein said she considered Smith a security risk because it took several officers to subdue him when he was arrested last Thursday. She ordered Smith to remain in jail and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Wednesday.

Smith, dressed in orange prison clothes, was escorted into the courtroom by two U.S. marshals and stared at observers before sitting down. Public defender Christopher Lancaster said he had read a copy of the court complaint to his client.

"For the most part, I understand what he read to me," Smith told Klein.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Keith Reisenauer declined comment.

Authorities said Smith appeared to be acting strangely before boarding the flight from Washington, D.C. to Sacramento, Calif. Smith told flight attendants he was going to Sacramento because his girlfriend was having a baby.

On board the plane, he was nervous and emotional, authorities said. At one point, they said, Smith went to the bathroom and took his clothes off.

"He continued to bother the flight attendants by constantly pressing the call button, walking to the back galley, and was described as acting in a strange manner," the court complaint said.

One flight attendant reported that Smith came to the back galley and said something that sounded like, "We're all gonna die. We're gonna go to hell."

Flight attendants said they alerted the passengers around Smith to his behavior and showed one passenger how to apply restraints. The pilots were told about the situation and opted to continue the flight, the court documents said.

Authorities said Smith abruptly left his seat and began running toward the front of the plane. One of the flight attendants blocked the cockpit door with a drink cart before Smith was subdued by two attendants and at least three passengers, the complaint said.

The pilots told authorities that they heard banging on the crew door that sounded like a fist fight. The captain declared a high-level emergency and landed the plane in Fargo.