Passengers on American Airlines Flight 1915 pinned and duct-taped an unruly passenger mid-flight after he tried to open the plane door at 30,000 feet.
According to CNN, the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Department of Public Safety reported that during a flight from Milwaukee to Dallas, a disruptive passenger told the flight attendant that he wanted “to exit the aircraft now.” As the man became more aggressive and upset, the flight attendant called to the back of the plane and asked for help from passengers sitting nearby.
The report stated that when the flight attendant put herself between the plane’s exit L1 door and the unruly passenger, he rushed towards her and the door and hurt her neck and wrist, triggering other passengers to rush towards them.
Doug McCright, a passenger on the flight, bear-hugged the disruptive passenger from the back and pinned him to the ground.
He said, “He was bound and determined; he wanted off that plane. I was bound and determined; he wasn’t getting off that plane.”
The passengers on board got duct tape from another flight attendant and wrapped it around the wrists, knees, and ankles of the aggressive passenger.
As per the report, the plane safely landed at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, and the airport Department of Public Safety and FBI detained the passenger and took him for a mental evaluation.
American Airlines told CNN in a statement, “The safety and security of our customers and team members is our top priority, and we thank our team members and customers for managing a difficult situation.”
To note, unruly passengers have become a serious problem for the airline in recent years, with at least 1,854 incidents reported this year to the Federal Aviation Administration.
