(Newser)
– The passenger who allegedly slipped from a Delta Air Lines plane moving through the emergency exit slide explained his story at a referral session. Antonio Murdock, 31, feared he would lose control if he did not get off his flight to Atlanta on Monday, CNN reports. While charging at New York’s LaGuardia Airport, he and his companion Brianna Greco, 23, and their 60-pound service dog were allegedly forced to open the cabin door and unfold the inflatable slide. The Florida couple has been arrested and faces felony charges; Murdock also faces charges of criminal malice and reckless danger. Murdock and Grego regain their greyhound from a Brooklyn animal shelter Wednesday morning New York Post reports.
“I panicked. I had panic attacks. That’s it. I didn’t hurt anyone,” Murdock told reporters as he left the hearing. “I have mental health problems. … I asked them three or four times to take me down. They said I was stopping the plane and they never stopped the plane and I got to the point where I felt dizzy.” A fellow passenger who had agreed at the gate to change seats with the couple to accommodate their dog says Murdock seemed “gentle,” and the couple was pleasant. When the agitation began, the couple who tried to change seats again and would have refused requests to sit down, he says, “Actually, I remember thinking,“ Well, you just asked me to sit down. I exchange lines with you because you wanted to be back and now, all of a sudden, you decided you wanted to be back. (Witnesses heard Murdock say he had PTSD.)