Passenger wielding box cutter charges Frontier flight attendant after landing, feds say

A passenger brought a box cutter on a Tampa-bound flight, warned that he “wanted to stab someone” and charged a flight attendant, according to federal prosecutors.

William Allen Liebisch’s threat caused the Frontier Airlines plane to make an emergency landing in Atlanta after taking off from Cincinnati on Nov. 11, 2022, prosecutors said.

After landing, Atlanta Police Department officers were waiting for Liebisch at the gate, expecting him to step off the plane as other passengers exited the aircraft, according to prosecutors.

However, Liebisch charged down the aisle toward a flight attendant while wielding the box cutter, prosecutors said.

A nearby passenger stopped Liebisch by tackling him until the police officers arrived on the plane and arrested him, according to prosecutors.

Now, Liebisch, a 43-year-old Cincinnati resident, has been sentenced to two years and six months in prison on a charge of interfering with the performance of the duties of a flight crew, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia announced in a March 14 news release.

McClatchy News contacted Allison Cobham Dawson, a federal public defender appointed to represent Liebisch, for comment on March 14 and didn’t receive an immediate response.

TSA confiscates box cutter, but man had a spare blade

On Nov. 11, 2022, Transportation Security Administration officers discovered Liebisch had a box cutter at a TSA security checkpoint at the Cincinnati airport, according to prosecutors.

The officers confiscated the box cutter and “mistakenly believed they had disabled (it) by removing the blade,” prosecutors said.

They were unaware that an extra blade was hidden within the box cutter’s handle, according to the attorney’s office.

After the flight left Cincinnati, Liebisch put the spare blade in the box cutter and began cleaning his nails, prosecutors said.

A passenger who watched as Liebisch trimmed his nails reported him to the flight attendants, according to a sentencing memorandum.

Then, the flight attendants had two male passengers, including a former law enforcement officer, help them stop Liebisch from “acting out,” the sentencing memo says.

One of the passengers stood in the back of the plane, close to Liebisch, as the other sat in the seat of the traveler who reported Liebisch to the flight attendants, prosecutors said.

“Their presence made (Liebisch) nervous, as seen in how he continuously banged the box cutter against the nearby jump seat,” the sentencing memo says.

According to prosecutors, Liebisch was standing up, because he refused to sit down, when he said he “wanted to stab someone on board the flight,” according to the sentencing memo.

The plane lands

After the plane’s captain chose to land in Atlanta instead of Tampa, the flight crew told passengers to deplane without grabbing their belongings from the overhead bins, the sentencing memo says.

“In other words, they were told to get off the plane as quickly as possible,” according to the sentencing memo.

“Trying to avoid escalating a volatile situation, Atlanta Police Department (‘APD’) officers stayed nearby but out of sight while passengers deplaned,” the sentencing memo says.

The officers ultimately subdued him after one passenger tackled Liebisch as he raced toward a flight attendant with the box cutter, according to prosecutors.

The flight never made it to Tampa that day.

“Liebisch’s disturbance on the flight, his arrest, and TSA’s baggage re-inspection protocols forced Frontier Airlines to delay the flight to Tampa until the following morning,” prosecutors said.

Ahead of sentencing, Dawson, his federal defender, wrote that her client had a traumatic brain injury and experienced substance abuse issues as a result before the day of the flight, according to a sentencing memo submitted on his behalf.

She acknowledged Liebisch had a prior criminal history and encounters with law enforcement, all of which she said happened after his brain injury.

Dawson wrote that while this isn’t an “excuse for his criminal behavior,” she asked the court to consider these factors when issuing his sentence.

She also wrote that he is “extremely remorseful.”

In December, Liebisch pleaded guilty to the charge against him, prosecutors said.

“The flying public deserves to travel in peace without fear that a fellow passenger will create a violent disturbance,” U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan said in a statement.

McClatchy News contacted Frontier Airlines for comment on March 14 and did not immediately receive a response.

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