Retired police chief helps subdue passenger after alleged midair outburst over alcohol cutoff

Retired Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O'Hara found himself back in crisis mode Thursday, not on the streets of the Mill City, but 35,000 feet in the air, when what should have been a routine United Airlines flight suddenly turned chaotic.

O'Hara told Fox News Digital he watched flight attendants spend nearly 45 minutes trying to de-escalate an increasingly belligerent passenger before the situation escalated, prompting him and two off-duty Bergen County, New Jersey, sheriff's deputies to intervene.

The retired police chief, who was traveling with his wife aboard United Flight 1364 from Newark to Fort Lauderdale, said the passenger repeatedly berated flight attendants, tried to get out of his seat and behaved erratically as crew members worked to keep the situation under control.

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