On January 21, an intoxicated man attempted to open the door of a Boeing 737 while the aircraft was on the tarmac at JFK airport in New York. According to the Port Authority police, the passenger’s intentions were to gain access to the cockpit of the aircraft. Fortunately, the Port Authority Police Department was on the scene and were able to stop the man before he could get inside the aircraft’s cockpit.
When you’re on an airplane and someone tries to open a plane door while the plane is in the air, what do you do? Well, probably the safest thing to do would be to sit there and say nothing, as that may be the only thing that keeps you alive. This was the situation when a passenger decided to open an aircraft door, while the plane was in the air and the plane was flying from Beijing, China to Detroit, Michigan.
Passengers Take Down Man Who Tried To Open Aircraft Door, While Delta Flight Diverts
by Gary Leff on June 12, 2024
Delta Air Lines flight 1730 from Los Angeles to Atlanta diverted to Oklahoma City in the wee hours of Saturday morning after a passenger on board is reported to have tried to open the aircraft’s forward boarding door.
Passengers report that the individual made an announcement that everyone “needed to be close to [their] oxygen masks.” The crew “called all the ‘strong men’ to the front of the plane to restrain” the man.
Here’s the scuffle at the front of the plane. While it was ‘near the cockpit’ reports that the man was trying to open the cockpit door are incorrect.
Terrifying moment a man is restrained by passengers & crew near cockpit.
Based on multiple reports & a check of flight tracks, this appears to be @Delta Flight 1730 (LAX – ATL) which diverted to Oklahoma City.
Developing story, details unconfirmed.pic.twitter.com/nlEa0WCkYY
— John Scott-Railton (@jsrailton) June 12, 2024
Here’s clearer video of the perpetrator being subdued by passengers.
A passenger on board says the person was a member of Delta’s cabin crew nonreving on the flight, and he attempted to open the aircraft door. Delta disputes this characterization (and there’s nothing about the appearance of a passenger alleged to be the perpetrator that would support the notion), as well as disagreeing with passengers who refer to the incident as an attempted ‘hijacking’. Actually opening the boarding door would have been nearly impossible given the cabin’s pressurization.
UPDATES: According to a passenger the man who tried to take down the Delta airlines 1730 was apparently a flight attendant
pic.twitter.com/NgHi0WunDk
— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) June 12, 2024
According to Delta,
Thanks to the crew and passengers of Delta Flight 1730 (LAX to ATL) who assisted in detaining an unruly passenger as the flight diverted to Oklahoma City (OKC). The aircraft landed without incident and the passenger was removed by law enforcement. We apologize to our customers for the delay and any additional inconvenience this caused.
The passenger who sparked the incident had been involved in an earlier fight on the plane, but it’s not whom that was with or what it was over. Law enforcement removed the man in Oklahoma City.
#BREAKING: After a man, who was trying to open door while in flight, was forcibly subdued by flight attendants and other passengers, @Delta says #1730 from #LAX to #Atlanta was diverted to #OKC, “landed safely without further incident…where it was met by law enforcement.” pic.twitter.com/rdPXkr6X3n
— Robert Kovacik (@RobertNBCLA) June 12, 2024
The flight eventually made it to Atlanta three hours late, at four o’clock in the morning.
