A passenger on a Delta Airlines flight from Seattle to Beijing on Thursday tried to open an exit door mid-air, but was thwarted by a passenger and crew pile-on that included a flight attendant cracking a pair of wine bottles over his head.
Joseph Hudek IV was flying first-class on a dependent pass, which are sometimes issued to relatives of Delta employees, when he got out of his seat after having one beer about an hour into the flight and headed to the bathroom. He then exited the loo and lunged at an exit door.
That's when passengers and crew sprung into action, including one flight attendant who tried assaulting him with wine bottles. "Hudek did not seem impacted by the breaking of a full liter red wine bottle over his head," the FBI wrote in an affidavit, "and instead shouted, 'Do you know who I am?' or something to that extent."
Ultimately, passengers and crew were able to subdue the 23-year-old and he has since been slapped with federal charges.