Airline Passenger Facing Charges After Helping Subdue Another

TEXAS – A North Texas man helped subdue an unruly passenger aboard an American Airlines flight and now he is the onefacing charges.

Jesse Fore said he is now accused of interfering with a flight crew after he and three other passengers stopped a woman who was allegedly trying to open an emergency door during a flight from Orlando, Florida to Dallas, Texas. The flight was diverted to Houston Saturday night.

28-year-old Fore says it all began when a flight attendant confronted a woman who was trying to make a cell phone call while the plane was still an hour from landing. He said the woman appeared to comply but then reached for the handle of an emergency exit door at 30,000 feet.

The woman was detained by authorities in Houston. Fore believes the crew kicked him off the plane in houston for criticizing a flight attendant for the woman’s outburst.

“They first questioned her, ‘what are you doing on the phone,’ the next thingI saw the male steward actually placed his hands onto the lady. That was when she really became hysterical,” said fore.

American Airlinesofficials say Fore interfered during the incident and refused to follow instructions from the crew. Although he was not arrested, he was not allowed to fly to Dallas on Sunday, and instead drove home in a rental car. No one was injured in the incident.

— Written for broadcast by Rachel Abell

— Edited for the web by Miguel Martinez