Alaska Airlines passenger charged after allegedly trying to open door of plane mid-flight
- - Alaska Airlines passenger charged after allegedly trying to open door of plane mid-flight
Minyvonne BurkeDecember 18, 2025 at 9:00 PM
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Boeing 737-790 aircraft belonging to Alaska Airlines is seen flying at Anchorage Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage, Ala., in 2024. (Hasan Akbas / Anadolu via Getty Images)
An Alaska Airlines passenger was charged in federal court after allegedly trying to open the door of the plane he was traveling in mid-flight, leaving other travelers fearing for their safety.
The incident happened Dec. 10 on flight 87 from Deadhorse, Alaska, to Anchorage.
Kassian William Fredericks was charged Tuesday via a federal indictment on one count of interference with the flight crew. His attorney did not immediately return a request for comment on Thursday.
One passenger said that as he was leaving the bathroom, he saw Fredericks "aggressively trying to open the rear cabin door," according to an affidavit for a criminal complaint. The passenger said Fredericks had moved the arm of the cabin door, and he grabbed Fredericks to stop him. The man then yelled for other passengers to help, the affidavit says.
The man said Fredericks "was so strong [that] it took him and the other two male passengers to restrain him and sit him down," the filing states.
According to the filing, Fredericks allegedly kept trying to get up, kept repeating that he needed to call his mother, and told the man that he thought he was overdosing. When the man asked Fredericks why he was trying to open the door, he said that he needed "air and to get out of here."
At one point, Fredericks allegedly asked the man for a cigarette and asked how he could break the window of the plane.
Another passenger said that before the incident, Fredericks was "shaking a lot" and looking back and talking out loud, the affidavit states. Two passengers said they were so concerned that they changed seats so they could be further away from him.
The affidavit alleges that Fredericks made other troubling statements, including "The wings have disappeared" and "We’re all going to die."
Alaska Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday.
After the flight landed at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, Fredericks was taken to the hospital for a medical assessment.
Source: “AOL Breaking”
