A Southwest Airlines plane preparing to fly to Manchester, N.H. was forced to return to a Midway Airport terminal on Thursday afternoon after a passenger reportedly “stabbed” the traveller sitting next to her with a pen.
The victim, Lenny Mordarski, says he was conked out in his seat and awoke shouting in pain. He had been stabbed, or poked, in the arm multiple times.
“Imagine being asleep and then being stung by bees and waking up and going, ‘Ow,’” Mordarski told reporters after eventually landing in New Hampshire.
The pilot returned to the Chicago terminal immediately. An airline spokesperson says the woman blamed in the incident poked Mordarski because he was snoring. She was removed from the flight and placed on another plane.
Mordaski, who was wearing a long sleeve shirt, is expected to have some bruises, at worst. He says the airline treated him and a friend to a round of gin and tonics – guaranteed pain dullers.
Charges were not expected, Chicago police said.