Passenger arrested for using emergency exit to jump off cancelled flight

A passenger of an American Airlines flight has been arrested for using an emergency exit to jump onto the tarmac after being stuck on the cancelled flight due to severe weather conditions.

The incident took place at Baltimore-Washington International Airport in Maryland where an American Airlines flight 2396 from Charlotte to Thurgood Marshall Baltimore-Washington International Airport was cancelled due to severe weather conditions.

The airline’s spokesperson told FOX Business that the weather condition also restricted air traffic throughout the mid-Atlantic and Northeast.

It was learnt that the cancellation came after 172 passengers and six crew members had already boarded the plane, however, one of the passengers could not handle waiting for so long and opened the over-wing emergency exit and jumped on the ramp for getting out of the aircraft.

A reporter with WCNC Brandon Goldner was also present inside the plane who shared the picture of an open emergency exit used by the passenger on Twitter.

So a passenger had enough and crawled over us in the exit row and let himself out. They got him by the jet bridge …@wcnc https://t.co/tddHxHvINN pic.twitter.com/NkxCEHS8qc

— Brandon Goldner (@BrandonWCNC) July 2, 2021

He wrote that everyone was stuck on the plane for at least half an hour after the flight was canceled because there was no one to operate the jet bridge and pleaded for help.

“So a passenger had enough and crawled over us in the exit row and let himself out. They got him by the jet bridge,” Goldner tweeted. In another tweet, he said that the passenger is being led out of the airport in handcuffs as he is rushing to grab a rental car.

As I’m rushing to grab a rental car, the passenger is bring led out of the airport in handcuffs. pic.twitter.com/YoKwEB9zXX

— Brandon Goldner (@BrandonWCNC) July 2, 2021

The airline confirmed that the passenger was “immediately detained” by airline team members and was placed into custody by Charlotte-Mecklenburg police.

The spokesperson said the traveller opened the over-wing emergency exit and jumped onto the ramp instead of waiting for the jet bridge to be repositioned.

The rest of the passengers disembarked after waiting roughly 40 minutes on board and each traveller was rebooked on alternate flights. The airline thanked the team members for exhibiting professionalism and apologised to the travellers for the inconvenience.