(Newser)
– The passenger who allegedly slipped from a moving Delta Air Lines plane through the emergency exit slide explained his side of the story at an indictment hearing on Tuesday. Antonio Murdock, 31, said he feared losing control if he didn’t get off the flight to Atlanta on Monday, CNN reported. While taxiing at New York’s LaGuardia airport, he and his companion Brianna Greco, 23, and their 60-pound service dog reportedly forced the cabin door and triggered the inflatable slide. The Florida couple was arrested and faces criminal charges of trespassing; Murdock also faces charges of criminal damage and reckless danger. Murdock and Grego recovered their Greyhound from an animal shelter in Brooklyn on Wednesday morning, the 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 audience. “I have mental health problems … I asked three or four times to let go. They said they were going to stop the plane and they never stopped the plane, and I got to the point where I was feeling dizzy.” Another passenger who agreed at the gate to change seats with the couple so they could accommodate their dog said that Murdock appeared to be “soft-spoken” and the couple was pleasant. When the commotion started with the couple trying to switch places again and reportedly refusing to sit down, he said, “I really remember thinking, ‘Well, you just asked me to switch lines with you because you wanted to be back, and now, all of a sudden, you’ve decided you want to be the front. ‘”(Witnesses heard Murdock say he has PTSD.)