DETROIT – A disruptive passenger is now charged with disorderly conduct, assault, possession of prescription medication and first-degree harassment after a scare aboard a Delta Airlines flight that was scheduled to land in Detroit from Omaha, Nebraska.
Background: Plane bound for Detroit Metro Airport diverted due to passenger trying to open exit door mid-flight
“I looked back and there are several people waving frantically, and a gentleman is trying to open the door,” said Jonathan Spencer VanderWaarden, who captured the unruly passenger’s arrest on cellphone video. “He was definitely not of his right mind.”
The passenger was identified as 23-year-old Mario Nikprelaj from Metro Detroit.
VanderWaarden, who confronted the suspect on the flight, said he noticed Nikprelaj acting strangely even before they boarded. He said at first he thought he had been drinking because he appeared disheveled and had a blank expression on his face.
Then, when they were on the plane, VanderWaarden said, Nikprelaj would not listen to flight instructions.
“I could hear the flight attendant have to repeat herself several times,” he said.
VanderWaarden said Nikprelaj wouldn’t sit down at one point, and had a confrontation with an elderly flight attendant.
“That gentleman did a pretty good job. He was a little undersized against this guy,” he said.
VanderWaarden said at one point, he looked back at Nikprelaj and “he didn’t have his shoes on or his shirt on.”
Then, while in the exit row, VanderWaarden said Nikprelaj tried to open the door mid-flight. Crew members and passengers stepped in to stop him.
VanderWaarden said Nikprelaj then tried to go to the front of the plane. VanderWaarden said he stepped into the aisle to block his path.
“[Nikprelaj] slapped my arm out of the way,” VanderWaarden said. Adding that Nikprelaj yelled, ‘Don’t touch me, my mama doesn’t touch me this way.’
The pilot called for an emergency landing — an unscheduled stop in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“You could feel the plane start to descend aggressively,” VanderWaarden said. “You could feel the pressure in your ears.”
Nikprelaj was then arrested and arraigned Friday. A Linn County judge gave him a $10,000 bond and a no-contact order.
It turns out Nikprelaj has a history of taking off his shirt — and committing crimes. Police previously caught up with him in 2020, and in other incidents, for breaking and entering, burglary, assault, forgery, domestic violence, and resisting police.
The Delta Connection flight was operated by SkyWest Airlines, which released this statement:
“SkyWest has zero tolerance for unruly behavior as safety for our customers and crew is our top priority.”
Echoing that message, VanderWaarden said the flight crews were professional and courageous in a very stressful situation.
