American Airlines passengers tackle and restrain man for trying to open plane door mid-flight

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A man had to be tackled and restrained by different passengers on board an American Airlines flight after he “aggressively” tried to open the plane door mid-flight.

The flight, AA1219 from Albuquerque to Chicago, was half-hour into its virtually three-hour journey on Tuesday (20 February) when the man tried to open the emergency exit door.

Six males reportedly “wrestled” the man to the aisle ground earlier than duct-taping his legs and restraining him with flexi-cuffs.

Several of the passengers onboard took to X (previously Twitter) to describe the commotion.

Fellow flyer The Wonton Don (@DonnieDoesWorld) stated: “30 minutes after departing Albuquerque I was shaken out of my Panda Express and Tequila-induced stupor by a man trying to aggressively open the airplane door 4 rows back.”

“One of the scariest days of my life,” wrote Lay Z (@layzdubz), who added {that a} “huge gush of wind” got here “out of nowhere” when the man opened the emergency exit door.

The plane was safely circled for an emergency touchdown again in Albuquerque.

Video footage reveals the man being escorted from the plane to the tarmac in handcuffs by 4 regulation enforcement officers.

American Airlines advised The Independent: “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.”

This disruption follows comparable incidents within the cabin over the past yr.

A Ryanair flight from Zadar to London Stansted in July noticed a man restrained by different passengers after he grew to become disruptive and tried to open the door moments earlier than take-off.

In September, a passenger was detained at Agartala airport in northeastern India after allegedly trying to open an plane door.

The collection of incidents even prompted new pre-takeoff warnings for South Korean travellers in November.

Airlines can be required to warn passengers in opposition to opening plane doorways, in accordance to new working pointers, to keep away from any makes an attempt to open the emergency exits whereas flying.