Passengers on an Alaska Airlines flight say a man's midair struggle with a rear cabin door left them convinced something was very wrong. Federal prosecutors have charged Kassian William Fredericks, 36, with one count of interference with a flight crew after the Dec. 10 incident on Flight 87 from Deadhorse to Anchorage, NBC News reports. According to an FBI affidavit, a passenger exiting the lavatory spotted Fredericks "aggressively" working the rear door handle and intervened, yelling for help as he tried to pull him away. It ultimately took three male passengers to restrain Fredericks in a seat, the filing says.
The flight was carrying oil workers, and the FBI agent wrote that one passenger said the situation could have been much worse if there weren't "a lot of North Slope workers who were bigger in stature to be able to help," the Anchorage Daily News reports. Fredericks allegedly kept trying to stand up, said he needed to call his mother, and claimed he thought he was overdosing, according to the affidavit. Asked why he went for the door, he allegedly said he needed air and had to "get out of here." He also asked for a cigarette and inquired how to break a window, the affidavit states.
The affidavit states Fredericks made numerous concerning statements to flight attendants and other passengers, including, "The wings have disappeared, we're all going to die" and "Meth is coming out of the air vents. Everybody is freaking out." One passenger told investigators Fredericks had been visibly shaking and talking to himself before the confrontation, enough that two passengers switched seats to get farther away. The pilot told investigators that while it would have been impossible to open the door at 18,000 feet, moving the door arm could have caused the emergency slide to deploy in the cabin, which could have injured passengers, KTUU reports.
The pilot said he considered diverting to Fairbanks, but decided to continue to Anchorage because it was only 18 minutes away and Fredericks was not vomiting or passing out. He said that because they were on the phone with medics, the incident prevented the flight crew from properly preparing the cabin for arrival. "The crew all stated that they feared for the safety of their passengers and themselves," the affidavit states. Fredericks was hospitalized after the flight landed at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, NBC reports. The affidavit states that Fredericks told a doctor he had been drinking for at least nine days, had been hallucinating, and could not remember the last two years of his life.
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