A scare on a Delta Air Lines flight to Boston involving a man who allegedly tried to open an emergency door was the latest in a string of frightening airliner moments over the past week.
Robert Hersey of Arlington was ordered held on $1,000 bond Wednesday after an incident his attorney called a "non-event." He pleaded not guilty to interfering with the operation of an aircraft after he was accused of tampering with the emergency exit door on a flight from Orlando.
Passengers said he'd been drinking and appeared upset when the flight was late, and a Delta spokeswoman said an off-duty police officer subdued him.
His attorney, Ron Wayland, said the door cover fell off after Hersey accidentally touched it. Wayland says the activity caused a light to go off and led the pilot to order Hersey moved to another seat.
The incident follows a string of scares in the air starting less than a week after Osama bin Laden was killed in a U.S. military raid on his hideout in Pakistan:
- On Tuesday, there were reports about the arrest of a Yemen native accused of trying to barge into the cockpit of a San Francisco-bound American Airlines flight.
- On Sunday, a Continental flight was diverted from Chicago when a passenger was accused of trying to open an airplane door.
- Also on Sunday, a Delta flight was diverted from San Diego after the pilot told passengers that a note with the word "bomb" was found in a bathroom.
- And on Friday, an Atlantic Southeast Airlines pilot refused to fly two Muslim religious leaders to Charlotte out of concern that passengers might balk at their attire.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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