Plane passenger stabs seatmate with pen for snoring

A female passenger allegedly stabbed her male seatmate with a pen to stop him from snoring, said a CNN report.

The incident happened last Thursday (April 17) on a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Manchester, New Hamsphire.

According to Southwest, the female passenger, who remains unnamed, was removed from the flight for poking her seatmate, Mr Lenny Mordarski, with a pen.

She did it to stop him from snoring, added the airline.

However, CNN said it was unclear if snoring was the root cause of the incident.

Mr Lenny Mordarski's friend, Mr Michael Sutton, who was seated next to him on the flight, wrote an e-mail to CNN to say he did not hear any snoring before the stabbing occurred.

Mr Sutton suspected that his friend's arm might have "brushed over to her" and she "just went nuts".

She started to stab Mr Mordarski which made him scream really loud, "almost like a little girl", described Mr Sutton.

He alerted the flight attendants to the incident and the pilot returned the aircraft to the gate. The woman was subsequently removed from the flight, reported CNN.

Mr Sutton praised Southwest for the professional manner the way the incident was handled. He said the airline treated them to free gin and tonics.

wjeanne@sph.com.sg