ATLANTA - An Ohio man has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for threatening passengers on a Frontier flight with a boxcutter and causing the plane to make an emergency landing at the Atlanta airport.
Officials say on Nov. 11, 2022, 43-year-old William Allen Liebisch arrived at the Cincinnati airport to take a flight from Ohio to Tampa, Florida.
While passing through the TSA security checkpoint, authorities say officers took a box cutter that Liebisch had in his possession. The TSA agents believed that they had disabled the tool by removing the blade, but officials say during the flight, Liebisch inserted a spare blade that had been stored in the box cutter's handle.
According to information submitted in court, a passenger spotted Liebisch holding the box cutter. Another passenger told flight attendants she heard him make a threat to the people onboard the plane.
"The lady came up and told us that the person sitting to the right of her seat had a weapon and showed it to them and said he was going to cut multiple people on the flight," passenger Larry Cumberbatch told FOX 5 in 2022.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Veterans take down passenger with box cutter on Frontier flight
A disturbance involving an erratic passenger with a weapon on board forced a Frontier Airlines flight to divert to Atlanta. FOX 5 got an eyewitness account of the scary situation from a passenger that crew members called on to help subdue the subject.
Cumberbatch, a US Navy veteran, said that crew members tapped him and another former member of the military on board to help subdue the suspect if anything escalated. So, they came up with a plan for him to switch seats with the woman who notified flight crew members about the threats.
"He has a weapon and I don’t know what kind of weapon it is ... I said, ‘Hey I’m gonna be sitting here from now on’ and he said ‘No, the young lady is gonna be sitting there’… He got like frantic, and he said ‘Oh no!’… and then he got up and went to the back of the plane," Cumberbatch explained.
While the men and crew tried to keep the situation under control, the captain decided to make an emergency landing at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Cumberbatch says Liebisch refused to deplane and then walked toward flight attendants with his hands in his pockets. That’s when another man, with a background in law enforcement, tackled him.
"He was concerned his movements were gonna go toward them and harm them … He just grabbed him, bear-hugged him, and they fell," Cumberbatch said.
This browser does not support the Video element.
Airport police apprehend suspect with box cutter at Hartsfield Jackson
Exclusive video obtained by FOX 5 Atlanta's Tyler Fingert shows the suspect being taken into custody at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport after being caught with a box cutter on a Frontier flight. (Credit: Moore/Wright Patterson AFB)
Atlanta police arrested the suspect. Cellphone video obtained by FOX 5 showed police taking the man into custody.
"The flying public deserves to travel in peace without fear that a fellow passenger will create a violent disturbance," said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. "Liebisch’s conduct created panic among the flight crew and his fellow travelers. His prosecution and sentence hopefully provide a message of deterrence to others."
This browser does not support the Video element.
Atlanta police department body camera shows arrest of Frontier Airlines passenger with box cutter
Atlanta police said a plane was diverted in Atlanta due to a man holding a box cutter in the rear of the plane who would not be seated.
Liebisch pleaded guilty to interfering with the performance of the duties of a flight crew on Dec. 14, 2023. This week, a judge sentenced him to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.