Shocked and horrified passengers tackled a man on the plane floor when tried to open the jet’s door forcefully at 30,000 feet.
Passengers on board a packed EasyJet flight from Gatwick to Pisa, Italy, were panicked and they rushed to help crew members in holding the man into a seat after he tried to force open the plane’s door twice.
The man, 30, was tied into a seat and “boxed in” by other passengers as the Airbus A319, which set off from Gatwick, finished its journey into Pisa in Italy.
Company boss Richard Conyard, 42, said: “I saw this bloke walk up the aisle behind me and head towards the toilet.
“He looked a little nervous and had a heavy coat on. He was in the toilet for about a minute.
“When he came out he went towards the emergency exit and grabbed the handle and tried to open the door.
“One of the crew screamed at him to stop and other passengers started shouting and crying. Everyone was understandably very scared.
“A couple of guys went to help. I joined them. We bundled him into a seat. Some women nearby were asked to swap seats so all these burly blokes could sit around him and box him in.”
Richard, of Maidstone, Kent, added: “He just sat there until we landed. We had to stay in our seats until the police arrived.”
According to plane experts, opening the door to the plane at 30,000 feet is really dangerous and in a result, a sudden decrease in temperature and compression, it could have seen passengers sucked out of the aircraft.
EasyJet said: “The captain of Flight EZY8233 from London Gatwick to Pisa requested police to meet the aircraft due to the disruptive behavior of a passenger onboard during the descent.”
It said that the cabin crew was trained to handle the situation quickly to ensure the safety of the flight and passengers.
Pisa Airport cops said a man in his 30s from Siena in Italy had been questioned about his Wednesday’s drama.
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