Southwest Passenger Stabs Snoring Seatmate With Pen, Delays Midway Flight

By Jim Bochnowski in News on Apr 17, 2015 6:15PM

Usually, when you're flying through Midway, the only thing you have to worry about is that one endlessly long security line that drags throughout the majority of the airport. But for two passengers flying on Southwest Airlines from Chicago to New Hampshire yesterday, the typical drama that comes with jostling for armrest space turned...deadly. Ok, mildly irritating.

Passenger Lenny Mordarski was seemingly minding his own business as his plane was taxiing, falling asleep in his chair, when he supposedly began snoring and brushed his arm into his neighbor's personal space. While most of us would just turn up the volume on our headphones and ignore it, his seatmate took matters into her own hands. ABC7 spoke to Lenny about the incident.

According to a Southwestern spokesperson, the woman was "trying to stop Mordarski's snoring" by taking a pen and repeatedly jamming it into the man's arm. We think Mordarski's friend explains the whole situation best:

"Chucklehead here fell asleep on the taxi on the runway, and I guess his arm kind of brushed over to her. She just went nuts and started stabbing him with the pen. He screamed really loud, almost like a little girl."

The noise alerted the flight attendants, who promptly had the plane return to the gate and had the offending passenger removed from the aircraft. Luckily, the Chicago Fire Department was called to the scene to examine the man's injuries, where he was ruled clear to continue on his journey to New Hampshire. Despite the horrific ordeal, Mordarski declined to press charges, and the woman was free to take a later flight.

His friend on the flight, Michael Sutton, posted a photo of his injuries. Brace yourself for the harrowing photo evidence of the incident, pictured below:

Absurdity of the situation aside, we're glad Mordarski was ok and seemed in fine spirits despite the incident. Traveling and airports can be the worst but this takes it to a whole other level.