A group of passengers on an American Airlines flight from Albuquerque to Chicago on Tuesday afternoon fought to overpower a man who allegedly attempted to open one of the emergency exits shortly after takeoff.
The Boeing 737 was still climbing out of Albuquerque when the man attempted to open the overwing emergency exit before other passengers and flight attendants rushed to stop him.
Although it’s impossible to open an airplane’s emergency exit once at cruising altitude, it is technically possible to open an emergency exit at lower altitudes, and in several recent high-profile incidents, this is exactly what has happened.
In this case, one passenger described how they felt a “huge gush of wind” after the suspect allegedly managed to partially open the unguarded overwing emergency exit door.
In a series of posts on social media site X, passenger ‘The Wonton Don’ then describes how he and five other passengers wrestled the man down because he was restrained with flexicuffs.
American Airlines flight 1219 departed Albuquerque just before 2 pm on Tuesday and climbed to a maximum altitude of 23,000 feet before quickly descending and diverting back to Albuquerque International Sunport.
In a statement, American Airlines said:
“American Airlines flight 1219 with service from Albuquerque (ABQ) to Chicago (ORD) returned to ABQ shortly after takeoff due to a disturbance in the cabin involving a disruptive customer. The flight landed safely and the aircraft was met by local law enforcement upon arrival.”
Nobody had anything sharp for him to remember the flight by?