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A Utah man faces federal charges after allegedly holding a razor blade to a woman’s neck on a flight from New York City to Salt Lake City.
Merrill Darrell Fackrell, 41, of Syracuse, Utah, was traveling on the JetBlue flight Nov. 21 when he allegedly assaulted the passenger next to him, according to the Department of Justice (D.O.J.).
Fackrell has been charged with carrying a weapon on an airplane and assaulting with a dangerous weapon in the United States Special Jurisdiction for Aircraft.
The 41-year-old sat in a row by the window with a married woman and man and engaged in conversation with the woman, according to a complaint filed by the DOJ.
Fackrell allegedly consumed “several” alcoholic beverages during the flight, according to court documents obtained by Gephardt Daily.
The woman had gone to watch a movie with headphones on and said she could hear Fackrell talking to herself, but wasn’t paying attention.
Utah man, Merrill Darrell Fackrell, 41, of Syracuse, faces federal charges after allegedly holding a razor blade to a woman’s neck on a flight from New York City to Salt Lake City
Abraham Neiderhauser, who had been a passenger on the flight, filmed a video of police dragging Fackrell off the plane as he tries to say one last word, yelling, “Peace out.”
It was alleged that Fackrell then put his hand in front of the screen and told her to pause the film.
The woman claims she took off her headphones and realized that Fackrell had placed what appeared to be a knife a few inches from her neck, the complaint said.
The object Fackrell allegedly held against her neck was later identified as a straight-edged razor with a 1- to 2-inch blade.
Fackrell then reportedly got up and yelled, “she’ll be fine,” and “no one need worry.”
He would then tell the woman’s husband to “get out of there.”
The woman’s husband got up to alert a flight attendant as she lunged for the aisle, claiming that Fackrell had tried to grab her by the shoulder and stop her.
Another passenger, identified as a man named Rob, who was sitting across the aisle, saw Fackrell holding an object, confronted him and was able to get him to put the object he was holding onto the seat.
He passed the object to the flight crew for safekeeping, according to the complaint, and then sat next to Fackrell for the duration of the flight.
It remains unclear how Fackrell got the razor on board the flight.
A fellow passenger on the plane recorded a video showing Fackrell being escorted by police after landing KSL TV.
Fackrell has been charged with carrying a gun on an airplane and attacking with a dangerous weapon – It’s unclear how he got the gun on the plane
The incident reportedly occurred near the end of the flight, just two hours from Salt Lake City International Airport
Abraham Neiderhauser was on his way home from a five-month tour of Europe when the incident occurred about two hours after landing in Salt Lake City.
Neiderhauser told the broadcaster that he heard a man scream two rows in front of him.
“He’s grabbing the woman next to him, he’s got something in his hand,” he said.
He says, “Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.” She’ll be fine,” and it was a little weird and a little ominous, the way he grabbed her. And it’s like, what is that? Is that like a weapon or something?’
Neiderhauser later discovered that Fackrell allegedly held a razor to the woman’s throat.
“He said, ‘This isn’t 9/11 shit.’ He’s like ‘just land the plane and everyone will be fine.’ We didn’t understand why he wanted to land the plane,” he said.
“Everyone was really scared. The area around where he and Rob were doing a little bit just cleared out, it’s like the whole front part of the plane was empty. All the flight crew were gone,’ Neiderhauser said.
Neiderhauser was on his way home from a five-month tour of Europe when the incident occurred about two hours after landing in Salt Lake City.
Neiderhauser said there was a collective “sigh of relief” when the plane landed and Fackrell was taken off the flight. He noted that the experience was “traumatic.”
“During this period of about, I don’t know how long it was, 30 minutes, everybody’s just kind of in a state of suspense about what’s going to happen. Rob was very brave, you know, so captivating.’
Neiderhauser filmed a video of police dragging Fackrell out of the plane as he utters one last word, telling everyone, “Pace out.”
“You pretty much felt the whole plane breathing this collective sigh of relief,” Neiderhauser said.
“After he left, everyone applauded Rob because they were very grateful to him. I think it was really traumatic for a lot of people.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office filed the complaint on Nov. 22 and the case is being investigated by the Salt Lake City Police Department and an FBI official.
That said a spokesperson for the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). CBS news the administration is “deeply concerned about the number of unruly passengers who exhibit disruptive behavior during the flight.”
“We are taking our responsibility to secure airspace for the traveling public very seriously and are introducing new X-ray technology at more airports to improve our ability to better detect items such as those used in this incident,” the spokesman said.
“We commend the actions of the flight attendants and other passengers on this flight.”
It is unclear when Fackrell will appear in court.
Last year, 1,099 investigations into unruly passengers were initiated, a significant increase from 2020 when there were 183 investigations.
This year, on November 1, there were 2,178 reports of unruly passengers.