Passenger opens emergency door of plane to jump out

Panic spread on a flight when a man opened the emergency exit door to jump out of the plane after a heated argument with his girlfriend.

Other passengers rushed to overpower him before handing him over to the security forces.

The incident occurred at Boston Logan International Airport when US airline JetBlue flight bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico, was preparing for takeoff.

The flight was delayed for hours as chaos erupted when a man attempted to leap from the plane after an altercation with his girlfriend.

According to authorities, the man managed to open the emergency exit before being overpowered by other passengers.

A witness, Fred Wynn, recounted that the man lost his temper after a heated phone argument with his girlfriend. “They were like freaking out, They were like, Stop, stop.” Wynn said.

He added: “Boyfriend and girlfriend were arguing behind me. Boyfriend got mad, got up walked down the centre aisle, grabbed the emergency door, ripped it off, completely off. FBI agent tackled him and handcuffed him. Shortly after, state police came on board and took him off.”

The disruptive passenger is now facing legal proceedings, with Massachusetts State Police spokesman Tim McGuirk confirming that the accused will be charged over the incident.

Massachusetts State Police said in a statement read: “Shortly before takeoff, a passenger who wanted to deplane opened an aircraft door suddenly and without warning. Other passengers restrained the individual until troopers arrived on scene to detain them for further questioning.”

JetBlue stated in its statement, “The sudden opening of the overwing exit door caused an emergency slide to deploy on flight 161 from Boston to San Juan”.

“The flight was eventually transferred to another aircraft and successfully landed in San Juan. However, the incident caused delays for passengers on other flights”, It added.