A man with a box cutter who forced an emergency landing on a flight out of CVG is being held by federal authorities as passengers on the plane began returning home from a long weekend.“From the back of the plane, we saw, like, commotion happening behind us. I didn’t really know what was happening,” said Carey Grimes. “Then everybody just started talking like they passed down the stories and we heard that he had a box cutter and we couldn’t believe he got on the plane with that.”“Everyone was like wondering what the heck is going on. I guess he was threatening people,” said Casey McPhearson.McPhearson and Grimes were on the flight headed to Tampa to celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday when they got diverted to Atlanta.“I’ve never been on a flight like that before where we’ve had to come down so fast out of that. Like he was, like, adamant about us landing as soon as possible,” McPhearson said.“On the ground, they came over that announcement and said, we’re going to deplane, and everybody leave your bags and your seat. We’re getting off the plane here. They didn’t even tell us we were in Atlanta,” Grimes said.Passengers shot video of the man being taken into custody. The FBI is investigating and has not released his name.WLWT has learned that the man jailed in Atlanta for U.S. Marshals is William Liebisch. Passengers identified a mug shot of Liebisch as the man who was causing the issues on the plane.Liebisch also has a long history of drug arrests in Hamilton County.People in his neighborhood say they have seen police at his place on a regular basis.“They surrounded the house before actually looking for him. It’s been multiple times. I’ve been here for two years. They’ve probably been over here at least ten times,” said neighbor Dewyon Williamson.Another neighbor who didn’t want to be identified said she knew Liebisch had trouble, but didn’t expect anything like this.“I’m really shocked right now,” the neighbor said. “I’m kind of really blown away about it.”
A man with a box cutter who forced an emergency landing on a flight out of CVG is being held by federal authorities as passengers on the plane began returning home from a long weekend.
“From the back of the plane, we saw, like, commotion happening behind us. I didn’t really know what was happening,” said Carey Grimes. “Then everybody just started talking like they passed down the stories and we heard that he had a box cutter and we couldn’t believe he got on the plane with that.”
“Everyone was like wondering what the heck is going on. I guess he was threatening people,” said Casey McPhearson.
McPhearson and Grimes were on the flight headed to Tampa to celebrate a friend’s 40th birthday when they got diverted to Atlanta.
“I’ve never been on a flight like that before where we’ve had to come down so fast out of that. Like he was, like, adamant about us landing as soon as possible,” McPhearson said.
“On the ground, they came over that announcement and said, we’re going to deplane, and everybody leave your bags and your seat. We’re getting off the plane here. They didn’t even tell us we were in Atlanta,” Grimes said.
Passengers shot video of the man being taken into custody. The FBI is investigating and has not released his name.
WLWT has learned that the man jailed in Atlanta for U.S. Marshals is William Liebisch. Passengers identified a mug shot of Liebisch as the man who was causing the issues on the plane.
Liebisch also has a long history of drug arrests in Hamilton County.
People in his neighborhood say they have seen police at his place on a regular basis.
“They surrounded the house before actually looking for him. It’s been multiple times. I’ve been here for two years. They’ve probably been over here at least ten times,” said neighbor Dewyon Williamson.
Another neighbor who didn’t want to be identified said she knew Liebisch had trouble, but didn’t expect anything like this.
“I’m really shocked right now,” the neighbor said. “I’m kind of really blown away about it.”
