British passenger tries to open door while in-flight

News at Gatwick 19/09/2011

BAA looks to sell Stansted : September 2011 : 19 killed in crash of Nepal tourist plane

Police questioned a man last Thursday after he attempted to open a plane’s doors in-flight.

A man from the UK was held for questioning by police last Thursday after he attempted to open the doors of his commercial flight at 36,000 feet. The plane was 45 minutes into its flight when the 22-year-old started pulling on the plane’s emergency doors and yelling that they were only on a simulator.

The flight, from the Spanish sunshine island of Majorca, was heading for Newcastle when the terrifying drama unfolded. The plane’s crew managed to subdue the man and used eight seat belts to keep him tied up, as the plane was diverted to Gatwick Airport.

The heavily-built man, from Ashington in the northeast of England, was arrested by police officers after the aircraft landed at Gatwick. Police questioned the man on Thursday.

Passengers reported that the cabin lights came on suddenly and members of the cabin crew were shouting. The man could be seen trying to open the doors.

When friends of the man tried to drag him away from the emergency door, he began punching them, shouting that it was okay, that they were ‘just on a simulator’.

Thomson Airways, which operates the flight, said that local authorities had been notified as per the company’s procedures and the plane was met by police after it landed at Gatwick. The spokeswoman added that police remove the passenger in question from the aircraft.

She added that it would have been impossible for the man to open the plane’s door while it was in the air. She finished by stating that incidents like this one ‘are extremely rare’.

BAA looks to sell Stansted : September 2011 : 19 killed in crash of Nepal tourist plane

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