American Airlines passenger sentenced after aggressive behavior, deploying slide last year

An American Airlines passenger was sentenced Friday after her disruptive behavior caused her flight to return to the gate and she proceeded to deploy the emergency slide before being removed from the jet.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of New York, Cynthia McKnight, 24, of Rochester, New York, was on a flight from Buffalo to Chicago on April 19, 2022, when she began acting aggressively toward other passengers and crew.

“After the aircraft’s doors were closed, and while the aircraft was preparing to depart, McKnight made her way to the front of the aircraft and engaged in a verbal altercation with one passenger, then spat on another passenger. As a result, the aircraft was required to return to the gate,” a statement from the office said. “McKnight then attempted to exit the aircraft as it was in motion on the ground, pushing a flight attendant in the process who had attempted to prevent her from opening an aircraft door. McKnight was able to open an aircraft door, which deployed the aircraft’s emergency slide, and exited the aircraft.”

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American Airlines confirmed the incident, and noted that the flight was operated by a regional airline partner under the American Eagle brand.

“Prior to reattaching the jet bridge, the disruptive customer opened the main boarding door, which deployed the emergency slide, and exited the aircraft onto the ramp,” the airline said in a statement from April 2022. “The individual was quickly apprehended by local law enforcement and has been placed on American’s internal refuse list pending further investigation.”

McKnight was sentenced to time served and three year’s probation.

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter for USA TODAY based in New York. You can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: American Airlines passenger sentenced in 2022 emergency slide incident