A federal grand jury has indicted an American Airlines passenger who attempted to open two emergency exits during a flight from Seattle to Dallas Fort Worth on July 18 after he propositioned a flight attendant for sex and refused to obey the lawful commands of crew members.
26-year-old Eric Nicholas Gapco from Delanco, New Jersey, has been charged with interference with flight crew members and attempted damage to an aircraft and now faces the threat of spending 20 years in jail, along with a civil penalty of up to $35,000 if found guilty.
Gapco was a passenger on American Airlines flight AA2102, which departed Seattle at around 7 pm on July 18 for what should have been a routine three-and-a-half-hour flight from Washington State to Texas.
Court documents allege that Gapco initially refused to obey crew member instructions to remain seated during the flight, while he continually shouted and screamed and used a vape pen despite being warned by flight attendants not to do so.
Gapco then allegedly propositioned a flight attendant for sex and locked himself in a lavatory for some time before attempting to open the aircraft emergency doors at both the front and back of the Airbus A321 jet.
The criminal complaint against Gapco alleges that he became so disruptive that flight attendants decided to restrain him using flexicuffs to truss up his hands and feet while the pilots made an emergency diversion to Salt Lake City.
On Wednesday, prosecutors alleged that Gapco had attempted to open the emergency exit doors “multiple times” and that it took several flight attendants and other passengers to restrain him and bring him under control.
The aircraft had to remain in Salt Lake City overnight, but engineers eventually cleared the plane to return to service the following afternoon, and the flight eventually arrived in Dallas Fort Worth nearly 24 hours late.
At cruising altitude, the pressure difference between the outside and the cabin interior makes it impossible to open an airplane emergency exit in flight, but exerting pressure on the opening mechanism can damage the emergency slide and make it inoperable in the event of a genuine emergency.
At lower altitudes, it is indeed possible to open an aircraft emergency exit, as was the case in May 2023 when a man managed to open the emergency exit of an Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 as it was on approach for landing at Daegu in South Korea.
In 2021, a drunk and violent unruly passenger onboard a United Express Embraer E45 regional jet managed to partially open an emergency exit while the plane was still in flight before a flight attendant, two passengers and an off-duty U.S. Marshal managed to pull him away from the door.
The perpetrator in that case was sentenced to one year in prison, and also ordered to pay a fine of $7,500 and undergo three years of supervised release.
