Terrified passengers tackled a man and taped him to a chair when he allegedly attempted to pull open a plane door in mid-air.
Local reports say the unruly man approached a member of the cabin crew during the flight as he “wanted and needed to exit the aircraft”. When they refused he became severely agitated before finally charging the door and attacking the attendant in the aisle.
Terrified for their lives, fellow passengers on board the flight took action and wrestled him to the ground. They then used duct tape to confine him to a seat for the remainder of the American Airlines flight 1915 from Milwaukee.
Passenger Doug McCright told ABC News: “He was going for the door. So I just grabbed this guy from behind and kept him from pulling the thing on the door.”
The flight attendant confronted by the unruly man was taken to hospital once the flight landed for injuries to her wrist and neck. Airport police and the FBI later detained the man once the plane landed and managed to get into a wheelchair before taking him to be evaluated by a medical professional.
The Federal Aviation Administration said it's investigating the incident. The investigation is ongoing and no arrests have been made. A spokesman for American Airlines said in a statement: “The safety and security of our customers and team members is our top priority and we thank our team members and customers for managing a difficult situation."
Earlier this month a mortified gran was escorted off a flight and arrested by armed police - for complaining about a £9 sandwich. Lily Ifield, 79, and her daughter were accused of “unacceptable” behaviour and warned they could be blacklisted by all UK airlines after complaining about the overpriced snack, the pair claim.
However, Lily believes the bap served on a Jet2 flight from London Stansted Airport to Bodrum, Turkey , was inedible, "soggy" and "cold". Cabin crew allegedly retorted "this isn’t a restaurant - it’s a plane" and called for officers armed with guns and batons to escort the passenger from the plane in Bodrum on Sunday November 3.
Lily, a retired secretary, said: "The police were standing at the entrance to the plane, waiting with guns like we were master criminals. We had no idea what we had done.
"I was turning round to people, saying ‘I think I’ve been arrested over a sandwich . The steward said, 'will you shut up' he said, 'I don’t want you talking'. I said 'excuse me, I can talk as much as I like'. We were being treated like convicts over a bap."