(CNN) – One of two passengers who exited a Delta flight with their dogs while the plane taxied on a runway felt he had to leave or he would lose control, according to statements during a charge on Tuesday.
Antonio Murdock, 31, and Brianna Greco, 23, of Florida, are each charged with third-degree criminal offenses, according to Lenis Valens, a spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
Murdock was additionally charged with second-degree criminal mischief and second-degree reckless danger, Valens said.
During Murdock’s arraignment at the New York City Criminal Court in Queens on Tuesday, authorities said a flight attendant who was on the plane during the incident said she had seen a male and female passenger walk through the plane.
According to the flight attendant’s statement, she heard the male passenger, identified by authorities as Murdock, say, essentially, “I need to get off the plane, I don’t want to sit here, I’ll open the door.”
Murdock then reportedly pushed past the flight attendant and opened a door labeled “emergency exit,” triggering and inflating the enclosed slide. The man then picked up his dog and exited the slide, according to the statement.
The female passenger, identified as Greco at the arraignment, is said to have followed Murdock down the slide. The couple and dog then walked away from the plane onto the taxiway.
The authorities later detained them in an area with restricted taxiways, as mentioned during the arraignment.
The flight attendant informed authorities that there was no situation on the plane that required Murdock to open the emergency door, according to the arraignment.
Jubril Oladiran, a lawyer for Murdock, did not comment on CNN when he reached out. CNN is trying to reach Greco for comment, and it is unclear whether she has legal representation.
Casey Johnson, a Manhattan resident who flew to his family in Panama City Beach, Florida, told CNN that he switched seats with the couple and their dog at the gate.
Johnson said the couple were pleasant and nothing out of the ordinary happened to him during their interaction.
He called the man, identified by authorities as Murdock, “soft-spoken.”
Murdock asked to change lanes with Johnson, he said, so they could have the last aisle of the plane to house their dog.
The plane was mostly full, except for the middle seats, which were left open under Delta’s Covid-19 policy. However, minutes later, the pair pushed back several rows, Johnson said.
“I really remember thinking, ‘Well, you guys just asked me to change rows because you wanted to sit in the back, and now you suddenly decided you wanted to be ahead,’” he said.
Johnson, wearing headphones as the plane taxied towards the tarmac, later noted a commotion.
And the next thing I know, I’m looking up while we’re on the move, and I just see … I see a lot of people getting up, and I see like four people running to the front of the plane. And at this point they have to passengers have been running to try to stop the person, ”said Johnson, noting that he did not see the couple and the dog as they jumped out of the plane, but did see the emergency exit in the front of the plane near the cockpit was open.
Johnson said the pilot told passengers through cabin loudspeakers that the slide had opened and the door opened, but did not state that the passengers had fled.
Johnson said the plane was on the tarmac for more than an hour before returning to the gate.
After Murdock and Greco exited the plane, the plane returned to the gate and customers took off normally, Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant said.
The airline was able to accommodate the remaining passengers on alternative flights, he said.
“Maintenance technicians have evaluated the aircraft and (it) is scheduled to return to service tonight,” said Durrant. He said Delta could not comment further.
Murdock will return to court on February 9 and Greco will appear in court on March 21, the Queens District Attorney’s Office said.
Valens, the spokeswoman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said the dog accompanying the two had been taken to an animal shelter in Brooklyn.
Greco was given a receipt to pick up the dog, Valens said.
In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration confirmed the incident and the arrests and referred additional questions to Delta and local authorities.
CNN’s Ganesh Setty, Laura Ly, Hollie Silverman and Eliott C. McLaughlin contributed to this report.