A Delta passenger was arrested after he opened the plane door, activated the emergency slide, and slid down it as the plane was preparing for takeoff
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- A Delta passenger was arrested after he opened the emergency plane door right before takeoff.
- He slid down the emergency slide and later hopped onto a luggage cart.
- The man was taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation, an airport police officer told Fox News.
A man on a Delta flight was arrested at the Los Angeles International Airport after he opened the plane door, activated the emergency slide, and slid down it minutes before his flight was scheduled to take off.
Delta Flight 1714 from Los Angeles to Seattle on Saturday was delayed due to an "unruly passenger" who exited the airplane while the "aircraft was holding to taxi for takeoff," Delta Air Lines said in a statement seen by CBS News.
Fox News reported that the unnamed man, wearing a striped red and navy blue sweater with black pants, ran to the front of the aircraft and asked the flight crew: "What do I do now?"
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At around 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, the passenger pushed open the plane's emergency door and triggered the emergency exit slide, the Los Angeles Airport Police told CBS News.
The man then slid down the emergency slide and jumped onto the back of a baggage cart, where he was held by the airport crew until the police arrived, per Fox News.
"He is being taken to a local hospital for a mental evaluation," Devin Feldman, an airport police officer, told Fox News.
"Due to the circumstances, FBI has been notified," Los Angeles Airport Police Captain Karla Rodriguez said to CBS News. "The aircraft was returned to a gate and passengers are in the process of being deplaned in order to be transported in another aircraft so that they can continue with their flight plans."
Representatives for the Federal Aviation Administration, the Los Angeles Police Department, and Delta did not immediately respond to Insider's requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.