Friday, November 22, 2024 - A group of passengers on board an American Airlines flight restrained and tied up a passenger with duct tape after he allegedly tried to open an aircraft door mid-flight.
The incident happened on American Airlines flight 1915 from
Milwaukee to Dallas-Fort Worth on Tuesday this week according to AP.
Passengers came to help after seeing a disruptive passenger
from Canada allegedly tell a flight attendant near the front of the plane that
he needed to exit via a cabin door.
In the ordeal, the passenger went up to a flight attendant
in the front galley of the aircraft and made a comment about “wanting and
needing to exit the aircraft now,” according to a Dallas Fort Worth
International Airport Department of Public Safety report.
The flight attendant told authorities the passenger’s voice
got louder and he became more agitated. She made a call to the rear flight
attendant to request more people in the front and also made a hand gesture to
passengers near her indicating she needed assistance.
She then placed herself between the left, first entry door
on the aircraft and the passenger, and he rushed towards her and the door. He
jumped on top of her in his effort to access the cabin door, injuring her left
wrist and neck, the report said.
One of the passengers, Doug McCright, bear hugged the
passenger in an attempt to pull him off of her.
“The only thing you could
think about was, 'I’ve gotta stop this guy,'” McCright, who was sitting in the
front row of the flight, told NBC News. He recalled hearing the unruly
passenger say, “I’m getting off this plane. I need to get off the plane.”
Another flight attendant told authorities the passenger told
her he wanted to get off the flight because he was the “captain.” This flight
attendant tried to deescalate the man, but he did not listen and kept insisting
he was getting off the flight.
Another Passenger called Charlie Boris also jumped into
help.
“The fight or flight instinct
kind of came over. And yeah after processing and the situation was done, yeah
I’m very thankful to be here,” Boris told NBC’s Jesse Kirsch.
According to the report, Boris told authorities that on the
flight he learned there was a man trying to open the cabin door and went to the
front of the plane to assist. Once there, he saw the passenger on the ground
trying to “get free.” Boris sprung into action by pinning the man’s legs down
with pressure and he said duct tape was used to subdue the male. Boris said the
man was talking about being from Toronto and seeing a therapist.
Other passengers were also mentioned in the report as
witnesses and assisting in restraining of the unruly man. One told authorities
it took at least three people to keep the passenger down.
When the plane landed at Dallas Fort Worth International
Airport, officers said they arrived to find “a male passenger on board who was
secured and restrained with tape.”
The passenger was seen lying on his stomach with his hands
behind his back bound as well as his ankles with duct tape, the report said.
The passenger was transported for evaluation and
investigation is ongoing.
American Airlines said that the restraint tape used in the
incident is included in an onboard kit as a safety measure.
“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,” the airline said in
a statement.
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