FBI charges man who tried to open door on China-bound Delta flight
First-class passenger Joseph Daniel Hudek is alleged to have repeatedly punched a female flight attendant before being restrained
A Delta Air Lines passenger was charged on Friday with instigating a mid-air brawl with flight attendants and other passengers who fought desperately to restrain him as he tried opening the exit door of a plane bound from Seattle to China.
Joseph Daniel Hudek IV, 23, of Tampa, Florida, was arrested on Thursday when the Boeing 767-300 with 221 people aboard, flew back to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport for an unscheduled landing two hours after take-off.
The plane was turned around due to an in-flight altercation detailed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation in an affidavit filed the next day as part of the criminal complaint against Hudek, who was a first-class passenger on the flight.
According to the FBI, the incident began when Hudek lunged for an exit door at the front of the plane, grabbed the handle and tried to open it, prompting a desperate scuffle with crew members and passengers who battled to subdue him.
In the course of the disturbance, the FBI said, Hudek repeatedly punched a flight attendant and a fellow passenger, and persisted in trying to pull open the door, even as a second flight attendant struck him over the head with two large wine bottles. Both flight attendants were women.