MHT Airport Rage passenger awaiting sentencing after being convicted of 2nd Degree Felony Assault...
It was a typical November Friday, the second "bad weather" day in a row at the Manchester, New Hampshire airport. Few planes had been able to land. US Airways had just announced another flight cancellation and 22 year agent Bill Everman stepped out from behind the ticket counter to arrange the poles and ropes to direct the passengers coming back from the gate for rebooking. 12 to 15 people were already lining up as Bill moved the ropes around and the other agents began re-accomodating customers.
That's when a passenger tapped Bill on the arm and said he needed a refund. Bill, still rearranging the poles and ropes said, "We can take care of that. Come into this line and that agent will take care of you." "No, you can do it," the passenger replied, "What kind of scene do you want me to make?"
Things began happening very rapidly at that point. The passenger flew into the kind of rage that Bill describes as, "like a baseball manager who rushes out of the dugout and starts yelling into the face of the umpire." Bill began stepping back – the passenger was taller than Bill, and was shouting and clearly out of control. Bill remembers thinking he had to try to regain control of the situation and get the attention of his co-workers for the sake of security. That’s when the assault took place.
Bill's co-workers and other witnesses say the passenger hauled off and punched Bill in the jaw, right by his left ear. As Bill went down he struck a rope pole, hit the floor, and his head bounced off the floor. He remembers coming-to, stunned and dazed, spotting his glasses three feet away, trying to get up onto his feet. He would later learn, in the emergency room, that he had suffered a concussion. Even later he learned of his permanent hearing loss in the left ear.
After punching Bill, the passenger took off running out of the terminal, pursued by a Northwest Airlines agent and by the US Airways station manager. The NW agent spotted the passenger running outside the terminal and shouted, "Freeze! Police!" They guy fell for it and halted right there. Just then Sherriff's deputies came running up and arrested him. He was a well-known local businessman.
Bill was discharged from the emergency room and in a few days was back to work, with his face still swollen, no hearing in his left ear, and continuing headaches. Finally, his injuries forced him to take time off until the immediate effects of the concussion had subsided.
On Friday, April 1, sixteen months after the incident, a jury found the passenger guilty of 2nd Degree Felony Assault, thanks to an effective prosecution by the Rockingham County prosecutor. The passenger is awaiting sentencing.
Bill looks back on the incident and is still amazed at how quickly a normal work day turned into a nightmare. Still, he's grateful for the immediate help and support he received from other passengers, his co-workers, his station manager, agents of other airlines at the station and medical and police officials. But he regrets that the passenger has not been banned from US Airways, as far as Bill knows, and he would also have expected that a 22-year agent assaulted on the job would have received some message of support from US Airways corporate level. That didn't happen.
It was a typical November Friday, the second "bad weather" day in a row at the Manchester, New Hampshire airport. Few planes had been able to land. US Airways had just announced another flight cancellation and 22 year agent Bill Everman stepped out from behind the ticket counter to arrange the poles and ropes to direct the passengers coming back from the gate for rebooking. 12 to 15 people were already lining up as Bill moved the ropes around and the other agents began re-accomodating customers.
That's when a passenger tapped Bill on the arm and said he needed a refund. Bill, still rearranging the poles and ropes said, "We can take care of that. Come into this line and that agent will take care of you." "No, you can do it," the passenger replied, "What kind of scene do you want me to make?"
Things began happening very rapidly at that point. The passenger flew into the kind of rage that Bill describes as, "like a baseball manager who rushes out of the dugout and starts yelling into the face of the umpire." Bill began stepping back – the passenger was taller than Bill, and was shouting and clearly out of control. Bill remembers thinking he had to try to regain control of the situation and get the attention of his co-workers for the sake of security. That’s when the assault took place.
Bill's co-workers and other witnesses say the passenger hauled off and punched Bill in the jaw, right by his left ear. As Bill went down he struck a rope pole, hit the floor, and his head bounced off the floor. He remembers coming-to, stunned and dazed, spotting his glasses three feet away, trying to get up onto his feet. He would later learn, in the emergency room, that he had suffered a concussion. Even later he learned of his permanent hearing loss in the left ear.
After punching Bill, the passenger took off running out of the terminal, pursued by a Northwest Airlines agent and by the US Airways station manager. The NW agent spotted the passenger running outside the terminal and shouted, "Freeze! Police!" They guy fell for it and halted right there. Just then Sherriff's deputies came running up and arrested him. He was a well-known local businessman.
Bill was discharged from the emergency room and in a few days was back to work, with his face still swollen, no hearing in his left ear, and continuing headaches. Finally, his injuries forced him to take time off until the immediate effects of the concussion had subsided.
On Friday, April 1, sixteen months after the incident, a jury found the passenger guilty of 2nd Degree Felony Assault, thanks to an effective prosecution by the Rockingham County prosecutor. The passenger is awaiting sentencing.
Bill looks back on the incident and is still amazed at how quickly a normal work day turned into a nightmare. Still, he's grateful for the immediate help and support he received from other passengers, his co-workers, his station manager, agents of other airlines at the station and medical and police officials. But he regrets that the passenger has not been banned from US Airways, as far as Bill knows, and he would also have expected that a 22-year agent assaulted on the job would have received some message of support from US Airways corporate level. That didn't happen.
