American Airlines flight 1219 was supposed to travel from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Chicago on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, but things didn’t go according to plan. A man attempted to open the emergency exit door shortly after takeoff. Thankfully, other passengers stepped up to stop this from happening.
The other passengers helped the flight crew restrain the man. They had to use duct tape. It is not known why the man was attempting to open the door.
The whole incident was caught on video. The flight was forced to turn around and return to Albuquerque. Local police took over from there. The man was last seen being taken off the plane by local authorities. His identity is not known at this time.
A user on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, claimed to be one of the passengers who helped restrain the man. He documented the situation: “30 minutes after departing Albuquerque I was shaken out of my Panda Express and Tequila induced stupor by a man trying to aggressively open the airplane door 4 rows back.”
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“Me and 5 other dudes had to wrestle him into the aisle, duct tape his legs, and throw flexi-cuffs on him. Just safely landed back in ABQ but HOLY S—,” he concluded. He also added that the flight would not return to the skies until the following day.
