A Utah man who threatened to slit a woman’s throat on a JetBlue flight has been charged with assault.
The potentially deadly situation occurred on November 21st when Merrill Darrell Fackrell boarded a flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York City headed to Salt Lake City, Utah. Fackrell was seated next to the window with a woman in the middle seat next to him. He tried to talk to the victim, who eventually tuned him out by putting her headphones in and watching a movie on her laptop. Fackrell then put a razor close to her neck and told her to pause her film. The victim’s husband, who was seated in the aisle, immediately got up to alert a flight attendant. Meanwhile, the frightened woman leaped from her seat to escape the deranged man, causing Fackrell to grab her shoulder.
Another nearby passenger, named Rob, observed Fackrell holding the razor and forced him to drop it on the seat. Rob gave the flight crew the blade and sat next to Fackrell for the rest of the flight. Before being apprehended by Rob, Fackrell struggled to subdue the woman and yelled that she would be okay. He also ordered the flight crew to land the plane and stated, “This ain’t no 9/11 s**t.”
Once the plane landed, police came onto the aircraft and quickly escorted Fackrell off as he said “peace out” to the disturbed passengers.
On Tuesday, Fackrell was federally charged with assault with a dangerous weapon on or near aircraft and carrying a weapon on a flight. He was appointed a lawyer from a federal public defender’s office. It remains unknown how he was able to get a razor blade on the aircraft.
