LaGuardia Airport control tower chatter reveals the moment a Delta Airlines pilot had to explain that passengers bailed out on his flight — along with their Great Dane puppy — by opening an emergency door and going down the inflatable slide on the tarmac.
“Hey, do you have a frequency where we can talk to the emergency services?” the Flight 462 pilot radioed the tower around 11 a.m., according to audio posted by LiveATC.net.
“You have an emergency?” the tower responds. “You need help with something?”
“We’re surrounded,” the pilot responds. “We had a passenger exit the airplane using the slide so we’re surrounded by all emergency equipment.”
“I didn’t know if you have a frequency where we can talk to them,” he said.
The commotion came as two passengers jumped off the plane with their dog using he airliner’s emergency slide on the New York-to-Atlanta flight at the Queens airport.
The tower then connects the pilot with emergency personnel.
“Can you tell me what you think the plan is now?” he said. “I couldn’t see what the passenger did when he left, so what exactly is going on?
“It looks like the individual is being arrested at this time,” an airport emergency official tells him. “And then whatever needs to be done with the aircraft with the slide out is going to be up to you and your company.”
Sources said the incident caused $170,000 in damage to the Airbus A321.
Antonio Murdock, 31, of Florida, was charged with criminal trespass, reckless endangerment, and criminal mischief, Port Authority police said Tuesday.
His girlfriend, 23-year-old Brianna Greco, was charged with criminal trespass.
Their pup was taken to the Brooklyn Animal Control Center, where Greco was due to pick it up on Tuesday, police said.
Officials at the shelter did not respond to a request for comment.
Murdock told cops he skipped out on the flight because his post-traumatic stress disorder would’ve have been triggered if he stayed on board.
According to Delta Airlines, there were 106 passengers on the flight.
The plane returned to the gate and they were put on alternate flights, airline spokesman Adrian Gee said in an email.
This article originally appeared on New York Post