Passenger charges cockpit, beats attendant on N.J.-bound flight, police say

On a New Jersey-bound flight, passenger Mike Egbert got a shock when a 28-year-old man dashed past him up the aisle mid-flight Thursday night, WNBC reports.

“This guy was in a full sprint, right up to the cockpit, hits the cockpit, starts banging on it,” Egbert said, according to the station. The incident took place on United Express Flight 4965.

Then the man, later identified as Matthew Dingley, began beating a flight attendant who tried to intervene, News 12 New Jersey reported.

“A slight woman, petite, and this guy was clocking her,” Egbert said, WNBC reported. That’s when Egbert and other passengers stepped in to restrain Dingley.

But the mayhem didn’t end there on the flight from Washington, D.C., to Newark, New Jersey, NJ.com reported.

After the flight landed at Newark Liberty International Airport shortly after 9 p.m., Port Authority Police Department officers boarded the airliner to arrest Dingley, according to the publication.

But Dingley charged the officers, knocking them down the stairs onto the tarmac, NJ.com reported. One officer broke four ribs and five others also were injured.

Other officers helped arrest Dingley, who faces charges including aggravated assault, criminal trespassing, resisting arrest and interfering with transportation, News 12 New Jersey reported.