A Florida couple and their Great Dane used an emergency slide to get off a Delta plane getting ready to take off from New York City.
Antonio Murdock and Brianna Greco were on a Monday flight from LaGuardia Airport to Atlanta when witnesses said Murdock became “panicky” and forced his way out the front cabin door, according to the Associated Press.
Murdock, 31, activated the emergency chute to exit the plane. Greco, 27, followed suit with the dog. The two were taken into custody after debarking and charged with criminal mischief and trespassing, among other charges, and the dog was taken to an animal shelter in Brooklyn. Greco was given a receipt that would allow her to reclaim the dog.
One witness said that the couple had “changed seats several times” before Murdock exited the plane, according to the New York Times.
At one point, Murdock said that if he sat down, he would “freak out” because of his post-traumatic stress disorder, passenger Brian Plummer told the outlet.
Lenis Valens, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said that Greco has since been released but that Murdock remained in custody waiting to be arraigned in Queens Criminal Court.
No one was injured during the incident, and though the plane returned to the gate as a result, the remaining passengers “deplaned normally and were accommodated on alternate flights,” a spokesperson for Delta Air Lines said.
