Editor's Note:

After publication, we became concerned with the accuracy of this article. For more information, please see the following reports from the Editor in Chief:

http://www.stanforddaily.com/article/2007/1/24/squashStoryContainedInaccuracies, and the Public Editor: http://www.stanforddaily.com/article/2007/1/26/publicEditorWhitneySadosReport

The men’s and women’s squash teams endured a wild cross-country flight late Sunday night that ended with a player helping to restrain a passenger trying to open an emergency exit door at 30,000 feet.

The teams, returning from a squash tournament at Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Maine, were aboard United Airlines flight 179 from Boston to San Francisco when things got interesting. According to an affidavit written by FBI Special Agent Brian Gilhooly, passenger Erin Callahan Lambert went to the back of the plane to talk on her cell phone. When flight attendants told her to turn off the phone, she “refused and became combative,” telling attendants she was calling 911 because the plane was being hijacked.

Lambert returned to her seat, but 20 minutes later, she took her pet dog and luggage, and locked herself in the airplane lavatory, refusing to obey flight attendant demands. Gilhooly wrote that she told the crew, “You are going to have to kill me and my dog.”

Lambert left the lavatory moments later and began to walk rapidly towards the front of the plane. “I’m getting off the aircraft,” she said.

She headed towards a cabin door, and a flight attendant mobilized a couple of passengers to assist in restraining Lambert, who was kicking, screaming, cursing, and spitting at flight attendants and passengers.

Men’s team co-captain David Herbert became suspicious when flight attendants asked him to return to his seat and he saw two men standing by the exit door. When Lambert began charging down the aisle with her bags in hand, he jumped into action.

“I didn’t know what was going on, but then this woman ran up and was clearly disturbed,” he said. “The flight crew was having trouble subduing her, so I jumped up and helped grab her.”

When Herbert took hold of Lambert’s arm she taunted him, asking, “What are you going to do, chicken bone?” But Herbert, also Managing News Editor at The Daily, said he was unfazed.

“I told her to shut up, and I squeezed her arm tighter,” he added.

Sophomore Ned Henningsen was impressed with his captain.

“It shows how everyday people can step up and become heroes,” he said.

Several other passengers helped restrain Lambert as she was handcuffed. Flight attendants then moved her to an aisle seat in the middle of the aircraft where she could be watched.

Coach Mark Talbott has endured numerous air travel mishaps with both teams, including a player being hospitalized before takeoff for dehydration and frequent announcements from the flight deck to announce that he, a 13-time world squash champion, is on board. This incident, he admitted, set a new standard.

“Everybody was a little freaked out for a minute, just watching it,” Talbott said. “They restrained her really quickly. In about 30 seconds or so, they got her calmed down.”

Authorities reported that Lambert was intoxicated during her outburst, an assessment that Cate Crowley, a co-terminal student in religious studies, confirmed.

“She didn’t act dizzy or slur her words, but she was acting totally crazy,” Crowley said. “She wasn’t stumbling in the aisles and she was more coherent than a drunk person in her speech, but the things she was saying were completely ridiculous.”

After the flight crew and passengers restrained Lambert, the plane then prepared for a quick landing in San Francisco.

“We started the most rapid descent into San Francisco that I have ever experienced,” Crowley said. “It was like a roller coaster drop — a steep descent the whole way down. We pulled right into a gate and barely taxied before police came onboard.”

Five to six policemen on duty at the San Francisco airport came on the plane to take Lambert away. According to Gilhooly, she refused an interview with the FBI, requesting an attorney.

United Airlines representatives said they did not have any information about the incident, and a Transportation and Security Administration security specialist could only confirm for The Daily that the incident occurred. Yesterday, federal prosecutors charged Lambert with assaulting a flight attendant and interfering with crew-member duties.

The midair excitement aside, the teams had a strong weekend at Bowdoin. The men’s team went 2-3 and defeated St. Lawrence University and Colby College in thrilling 5-4 decision. The women went 3-2, downing rivals Colby, Connecticut College and St. Lawrence.