An Alaska Airlines passenger was charged in federal court after he was accused of trying to open the door of the plane he was traveling on midflight, leaving other travelers fearing for their safety.
The incident happened Dec. 10 on Flight 87 from Deadhorse, Alaska, to Anchorage.
Kassian William Fredericks was charged Tuesday in a federal indictment with one count of interference with the flight crew. His attorney said he "is presumed innocent, like any person accused of a crime."
A passenger said that as he was leaving the bathroom, he saw Fredericks "aggressively trying to open the rear cabin door," according to an affidavit for a criminal complaint. The passenger said that Fredericks had moved the arm of the cabin door and that he grabbed Fredericks to stop him. The man then yelled for other passengers to help, the affidavit says.
Fredericks "was so strong [that] it took him and the other two male passengers to restrain him and sit him down," the filing says, quoting the man.
According to the filing, Fredericks kept trying to get up, kept repeating that he needed to call his mother and told the man that he thought he was overdosing. When the man asked Fredericks why he was trying to open the door, he said he needed "air and to get out of here."
At one point, Fredericks asked the man for a cigarette and asked how he could break the window of the plane, prosecutors say.
Another passenger said that before the incident, Fredericks was "shaking a lot" and looking back and talking out loud, the affidavit says. Two passengers said they were so concerned that they changed seats so they could be farther away from him.
The affidavit alleges that Fredericks made other troubling statements, including "The wings have disappeared" and "We’re all going to die."
Alaska Airlines said in an emailed statement Thursday that Fredericks "has been banned from flying with us."
"We thank our crew for their professionalism in handling this situation, and we apologize to our guests for any concern this incident caused," a spokesperson said.
After the flight landed at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Fredericks was taken to the hospital for a medical assessment.
