An American Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing in New Mexico after a disruptive passenger allegedly tried to open an emergency exit, authorities said.
Authorities at Sunport International Airport in Albuquerque said Flight 1219 to Chicago returned to the airport shortly after takeoff Tuesday afternoon "due to a cabin disturbance involving a disruptive passenger."
Albuquerque television station KOAT interviewed several passengers, including Emma Ritz, who claimed the man
tried to open an emergency door
while the plane was in flight.
“He was sitting near the emergency exit and broke the cover that protected the handle,” Ritz explained.
"He tore off the handle and exposed part of the emergency exit, so the wind came in strongly."
KOAT reported that six other passengers on the plane overpowered the man and held him in the aisle until the flight ended, tying his feet with duct tape and putting plastic handcuffs on him.
“The man was yelling
'I want to get out of here'
while they controlled him,” Ritz explained to KOAT.
[Boeing dismisses the head of the 737 Max program, after the panel of an airplane detaches in mid-flight]
In a message posted on the social network of seats behind. Me and five others had to throw him into the aisle, put duct tape on his feet and put plastic handcuffs. We landed safely back in Albuquerque [...]
Blaze Ward, who was one of the first passengers to struggle with the man, said that "he had already lowered the safety mechanism and had both hands on the lever and was pulling it. He was a big guy and he had a good grip on it, there was a pressure difference, a hissing sound,” Ward explained.
The plane landed safely at Sunport, where, according to passengers,
local police detained the man
.
[United plane makes emergency landing in Denver after discovering that a wing was damaged]
Neither the FBI nor Albuquerque police have yet released any information about the person who caused the problem.
A spokeswoman for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) stated Wednesday that the agency is investigating the incident.
“I'm curious about what was wrong with [the man], why
he needed to get off the plane
,” Ritz said.
With information from
The Associated Press
,
ABC 7
and
USA Today