Passenger beaten and restrained after trying to open door in mid-air on Copa Airlines flight

An unruly airline passenger who tried to open the emergency door mid-flight was beaten and restrained by fellow passengers on a Copa Airlines flight. According to the New York Post, The incident took place on Tuesday during a flight from Brazil to Panama. The flight went as planned until 30 minutes before landing, a man with a plastic knife from his tray rushed to the back of the plane and attempted to take a flight attendant hostage with the aim of opening the plane door.

A video of the incident, shared on microblogging site Another clip shows authorities boarding the plane and leading the man away in handcuffs with a bloodied face.

VÍDEO — Passageiro is about the flight to Brasilia-Panamá; Caso aconteceu na manhã da terça-feira (5), a few minutes before the aeronave pousar at Cidade do Panamá. The passage takes place via the car journey. pic.twitter.com/gDTyB5fwg3

— Nelson Carlos dos Santos Belchior (@NelsonCarlosd15) November 5, 2024

According to the AfterPhotojournalist Cristiano Carvalho witnessed the man’s attempt to open the door 30 minutes before landing. “A flight attendant started shouting and another tried to stop him, but he couldn’t because he was too strong,” he said.

“He went past the emergency door at the back after the warning,” Mr. Carvalho recalled, adding: “Then he started walking forward and tried to open it.”

That’s when passengers rushed to help and fought the man to stop him from opening the plane’s emergency door, the 51-year-old said. He said that despite initially struggling due to the man’s strength, fellow passengers eventually managed to restrain the airhead after beating him bloody.

“They hit him so much that he almost lost consciousness,” Mr. Carvalho described.

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In a statement, Copa Airlines claimed that after landing in Panama, “the national security team entered the aircraft and removed the passenger and took him to judicial authorities.”

The airlines praised both crew members and pilots for coming together to prevent the unruly passenger from opening the plane door. “The crew acted quickly and, with the help of some passengers, applied the necessary safety protocols to keep the situation under control until landing in Panama. Thanks to the professionalism of the crew, the safety of the flight and passengers was protected,” the airline spokesperson said. said.

Meanwhile, the incident comes days after a man in the United States violently attacked a deaf and non-verbal passenger as he slept until the cabin was splattered with blood during a United Airlines flight. Authorities identified the suspect as 44-year-old Everett Chal Nelson. He was charged with assault by beating, beating and wounding in the US special aircraft jurisdiction. If convicted, he could face up to a year in prison.