Wild moment American Airlines passenger tackled by fliers & put in zip ties after ‘trying to open plane door mid flight’
VIDEO shows a plane passenger being pinned down by other travelers after he reportedly tried to open an emergency door mid-air.
The chaos erupted on an American Airlines flight as it was headed from Albuquerque to Chicago on Tuesday.
Footage obtained by Fox News showed the passenger on the floor of the plane with his feet duct taped after what the airline described as a disturbance in the air.
A second video on social media showed police escorting a man off the plane after it returned to Albuquerque for an emergency landing.
Multiple passengers onboard the plane described the shocking situation on X, formerly known as Twitter.
The Wonton Don (@DonnieDoesWorld) said he was sleeping in his seat when he was stirred awake “by a man trying to aggressively open the airplane door 4 rows back.”
“Me and 5 other dudes had to wrestle him into the aisle, duct tape his legs, and throw flexi-cuffs on him,” Don wrote.
Another traveler, Lay Z (@layzdubz), described the ordeal as “one of the scariest days” of her life.
“Flying back home from ABQ and we’ve been in the air for about 30 minutes and a huge gush of wind comes out of nowhere,” she wrote in her post.
“This guy opened the emergency exit door. People were tackling him down and put him in zip ties. Had to emergency land back.”
American Airlines told The U.S. Sun, “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.”
Further information about the situation and any possible charges was not immediately available.
The U.S. Sun contacted Albuquerque police for more information about the mid-air emergency.
Users on X praised the passengers who jumped into action on the flight.
“That’s the American heroic action that I know and love. People still care for one another,” one person wrote on X.
“Thank you for your service,” said another.