A passenger on an Alaska Airlines flight found himself in custody after allegedly attempting to open the aircraft’s cabin door shortly after the plane departed from Prudhoe Bay last week.
Kassian William Fredericks, aged 36, was apprehended by federal authorities on Sunday. He faces charges of disrupting a flight crew, as detailed by the Anchorage Daily News.
The complaint reveals that Fredericks exhibited erratic behavior from the onset of the December 10 flight. Flight attendants denied him alcohol, and soon after, a passenger emerging from the lavatory discovered him attempting to open the plane’s rear cabin door. Quick-thinking passengers intervened and restrained him.
Despite the incident, the aircraft continued toward Anchorage, a mere 20 minutes away, and landed without further issues. Authorities clarified that Fredericks wouldn’t have succeeded in opening the door; however, the pilots, alerted by automated systems, were concerned. His actions risked deploying the plane’s emergency slide inside the cabin, the affidavit noted.
Working on the North Slope oil fields, Fredericks appeared visibly shaken and anxious as the flight commenced, according to the affidavit. He claimed he was overdosing and needed air, repeatedly saying, “stop the plane, stop the plane” before ingesting a pill.
A witness reported that Fredericks expressed a need to contact his mother and asked, “How do I break the window? I don’t know how to break it,” as per PEOPLE.
A passenger on the plane told investigators it was good thing many of the passengers were “North Slope workers who were bigger in stature to be able to help” restrain Fredericks, the affidavit said.
He was reportedly calmer by the time the plane landed and even apologized to the flight crew.
Alaska Airlines officials said the company has banned him from the airline.
Fredericks was “intercepted and restrained until the aircraft landed safely in Anchorage, where it was met by law enforcement and EMTs,” the company said in a statement. “We thank our crew for their professionalism in handling this situation, and we apologize to our guests for any concern this incident caused.”
He was taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center after the plane landed.
