(Recasts with man charged, details of flight diversion )

By Kevin Murphy

KANSAS CITY, Kan., Nov 4 (Reuters) - A man who prosecutors said threatened to bring down an American Airlines airplane after flight attendants told him he could not smoke an e-cigarette was charged on Wednesday in federal court in Kansas with flight crew interference, authorities said.

Jason Baroletti, 38, of Holbrook, New York, was arrested after the flight bound for New York from Phoenix was diverted to Wichita, Kansas, on Tuesday night. He is being held pending a hearing on Friday in federal court, prosecutors said.

About 10 minutes after the flight left Phoenix, Baroletti started to smoke an e-cigarette, told flight attendants he was feeling anxious and needed a drink, an FBI special agent said in an affidavit filed with the criminal complaint.

The affidavit said Baroletti became upset when flight attendants refused to serve him a drink, threatened to kill a passenger seated near him, rose from his seat repeatedly and said he would bring the plane down if he did not get a drink.

He also stepped into the aisle and tried to force his way past a beverage cart. During an altercation with flight attendants and passengers, he was given a slip of paper notifying him he could be violating federal law, according to the affidavit.

The flight attendants then asked the pilot to land the plane and remove Baroletti. He was arrested when the airplane landed in Wichita and he told investigators his threat to bring it down was not serious, the affidavit said.

There were 131 people aboard the airplane, including passengers and crew.

If convicted, Baroletti could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, said a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom of Kansas. No attorney has been listed for Baroletti, he said.

(Reporting by Kevin Murphy in Kansas City, Kan. and Suzannah Gonzales in Chicago; Editing by Peter Cooney)