Man arrested after attacking flight attendant, ramming cockpit: report

A New York man was arrested after allegedly attacking a flight attendant on board a United Airlines flight and barreling into the door of the cockpit, attempting to gain entry.

NBC New York and The Associated Press reported that 28-year-old Matthew Dingley was accused by passengers and crew on the United Express flight of acting erratically before getting up from his seat and sprinting for the cockpit door.

“This guy was in a full sprint, right up to the cockpit, hits the cockpit, starts banging on it,” one passenger, Mike Egbert, told NBC. Dingley then turned his ire to a female flight attendant, striking her repeatedly, according to Egbert.

“A slight woman, petite, and this guy was clocking her,” he said.

Though Dingley was subdued by passengers and crew members after allegedly attacking the flight attendant, the drama continued when the Washington, D.C.-to-Newark flight landed in New Jersey and Dingley allegedly charged officers waiting to arrest him, injuring one.

“He picks up a police officer, throws the police officer,” Egbert said. “If he did actually get into that cockpit Lord knows what would have happened.”

Dingley remains imprisoned at the Essex County Correctional Facility in New Jersey awaiting trial on charges of aggravated assault and resisting arrest, among others.