PrimeTime: Inside 'Air Rage' Trial
April 5 -- "I was never out of control," says John Davis, the airline passenger found not guilty this week of committing aggravated assault against a gate attendant who suffered a broken neck and was left unconscious.
Responding to charges that he epitomized one of the worst incidents of "air rage," John, a 31-year-old assistant manager at a steel plant and a lieutenant in the National Guard, says he was never the aggressor. He says he was merely protecting his wife when he restrained the gate agent's arms and landed on the floor in a brawl.
"I never doubted what I did because I stayed in control and I was defending my wife," he says. "Just because I'm in the Army doesn't mean I was trained to kill."
John faced the possibility of up to 10 years in prison had he been convicted of assault on Angelo Sottile, 50 in the July 22, 1999 airport scuffle. Sottile suffered a broken neck and was comatose for five days. Though he has made a remarkable recovery, he suffers permanent physical impairment.
The Davis' Story
John and his wife Vicky were at Newark Airport en route to Orlando, Fla. for vacation with their children and extended family at Disney World. When it was time to board after a long delay, Sottile took the family's boarding passes, but there were only nine for 11 passengers. The Davis' said two of the children did not need tickets because they would sit on a parent's lap. However, FAA regulations prohibit any passenger from entering the jetway without a boarding pass.
A commotion ensued, during which Vicky noticed her 23-month-old was several feet down the jetway crying on the other side of Sottile. Vicky says she attempted to go after her little girl when Sottile stopped her, pushing her in the chest, and claiming no one may enter the jetway without a boarding pass.
She attempted to walk around Sottile, she says, who then "laid into me with his hands." John says he saw Sottile push his wife, and he became concerned.
"She didn't fall down, but he shoved her back hard enough that she stumbled back," John says. "I was a little upset that he put his hands on my wife."
