A Delta flight departed from Seattle and was headed for Bejing, but about an hour into the flight chaos broke out in the first-class section of the plane. The flight was over Canada when an unruly passenger attempted to open an Emergency Exit door.
The Tampa, Florida, man lunged for the emergency exit, which caused other passengers to tackle him during this Thursday evening flight. Not being able to subdue this unruly passenger who continued to be combative, a flight attendant broke a wine bottle over his head.
Couldn't contain passenger
The FBI wrote in their report that 23-year-old Joseph Daniel Hudek IV was unfazed by the blow to the head that occurred during an attempt to stop him, according to MSN News.
The pilot turned the plane around and headed back to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport where Hudek was taken off the plane in handcuffs and a wheelchair, which witnesses said he tipped over in the middle of the airport as he screamed for help.
Severe facial injuries
This was not a little incident aboard this flight as one passenger and a flight attendant needed to go to the hospital when the plane landed back in Seattle. While their injuries weren't considered life-threatening, they were described as "severe facial injuries," according to MSN.
Lunged at exit door
The incident started when Hudek got up to use the restroom. He immediately came out of the bathroom, asked the flight attendant a question and then went back into the restroom.
The second time he emerged, about 2-minutes later, he lunged at the exit door and tried to open it.
Wine bottles
Two flight attendants tried to pull him away, but he was so combative that the flight attendants signaled for the passengers in the area to help them. Hudek was not going to back down. He continued to fight, punching a flight attendant in the face and hitting a passenger in the face with a wine bottle.
A flight attendant grabbed two wine bottles, hitting Hudek over the head with both and breaking one with the force of the blow. Still, this unruly passenger was not fazed by this struggle. He yelled at the flight attendant as the bottle broke over his head, "Do you know who I am."
Hudek broke out of a headlock that one passenger managed to maneuver.
It eventually took several passengers holding him down for the attendants to get his hands tied with zip-lock handcuffs. He still remained combative and it took several passengers and flight attendants to hold him down during the trip back to the airport.
Court appearance
According to the complaint filed in court, Hudek was on that flight using a "Dependent Pass." These are passes given to dependents of Delta employees that allow them to fly via standby. Hudek appeared in court on Friday in Seattle. He stood in the U.S. District Court and didn't speak. The once unruly passenger was now in a beige jail uniform with a visible scrape or a bruise below his right eye and he remained quiet.
Hudek was charged with interfering with a flight crew which carries a [possible sentence of up to 20 years and up to a $250,000 fine. He will remain in custody until his next court date on July 13.
