If I was on that flight, when I met that passenger at a reunion, I would say "You stupid {expletive}, you panicked and almost cost a lot of us our lives. The crew was professional enough to save us from disaster, and your inability to think clearly nearly thwarted that. I hope you spend the rest of your life knowing that when the going got rough, you panicked, and nearly killed people"

Okay, maybe I wouldn't be so mean as to say it. But I'd be thinking it.