(CNN) -- The man accused of trying to force his way into the cockpit of a commercial airliner bound for San Francisco made his first court appearance Tuesday, during which federal prosecutors argued that the suspect is a risk to flee and should be denied bail.
Rageh Al-Murisi, 28, carries a Yemeni passport and -- aside from cousins with whom he had lived in Vallejo, California -- has no close ties in the United States, federal prosecutors said in arguing for him to be held until trial.
He is charged with interference with flight crew members and attendants in the incident, which occurred about 20 minutes before American Airlines Flight 1561, inbound from Chicago, was scheduled to land at San Francisco International Airport Sunday night.
During Tuesday's hearing before Magistrate Judge James Larson in U.S. District Court, federal prosecutors drew comparisons to high-profile terrorism cases, saying Al-Marisi was saying "Allahu Akbar" ("God is great") as he approached the cockpit door and tried to force it open, CNN affiliate KGO-TV reported.
However, a law enforcement official said Monday that police have seen nothing to indicate links to terrorism or that the incident was a possible "trial run" -- a mission to test security responses in preparation for an actual attack later.
According to the criminal complaint, the flight's purser said a man got up from his seat near the rear of the airplane, entered the first-class cabin and proceeded to the cockpit door, where he tried the door handle.
The purser, thinking the man was looking for the lavatory, informed him that it was to his left, according to the complaint, but he again tried to open the cockpit door.
After the purser again told him the restroom was to his left, the man "made eye contact with him, lowered his left shoulder and rammed the cockpit door," the complaint states. The purser got between the man and the door and called for help as he continued to push forward against the locked door. Several passengers responded and managed to restrain the man, though he repeatedly tried to break free and open the door.
Al-Murisi had flown from New York to Chicago on Sunday to catch the flight to San Francisco. According to prosecutors, when he boarded in New York, Al-Murisi had no baggage, and though he told investigators he was on his way to visit his cousins, they said they didn't know he was coming, KGO-TV reported.
Musari had drivers' permits to two New York addresses, a New York driver's license, a California ID and two post-dated checks -- one for $5,000 and another for $8,000 -- according to KGO-TV.
The incident was one of two Sunday in which a passenger described by authorities as disorderly was restrained.
Continental Flight 546 bound for Chicago from Houston made an unscheduled stop in St. Louis because of an "unruly passenger," a St. Louis airport spokesman said.
Reynel C. Alcaide, 34, of Burbank, Illinois, got out of his seat and rushed toward the front of the airplane, according to a statement from the Justice Department released Monday.
A flight attendant who confronted him was pinned against a wall, the statement says, and Alcaide repeatedly tried to unlatch and open a flight door on Flight 546. He was charged with crimes involving an aircraft and interference with flight crew members and attendants, both of which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
Also on Sunday, a Delta flight was diverted after a flight attendant found a suspicious note in a lavatory, a TSA official told CNN. The flight from Detroit to San Diego was diverted to Albuquerque, New Mexico, the FBI said, adding that it was informed of "a potential security threat" on the plane.
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