Delta in-flight disaster averted thanks to weaponized wine bottles

Wine: saving everyone's flight experience in more ways than one.

A Delta flight devolved into a nightmare on Thursday when a man tried to force open an exit door midair, the Washington Post reported. The day was saved thanks to resourceful flight attendants armed with glass bottles.

Joseph Hudek IV, age 23, was flying first class on a 5 p.m. flight from Seattle to Beijing. At one point, he left the first-class bathroom and "lunged toward the forward right exit door." He grabbed the handle and tried to pull the door open.

Flight attendants immediately leapt into action and tried -- unsuccessfully -- to get Hudek away from the door. He also fended off a passenger's attempt to defuse the situation, punching the man in his face and hitting him repeatedly with a wine bottle.

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The flight crew, hoping to keep the plane safe, then tried that same tactic, hitting Hudek with a bottle of wine over his head. Undeterred even then, he responded by yelling "'Do you know who I am?' or something to that extent," according to the FBI's report.

The rest of the plane eventually overpowered Hudek, and he ended up finishing his flight in zip ties on the cabin floor. The pilot brought the plane back to Seattle because of the emergency, and Hudek appeared in court on Friday.