An agitated man on a JetBlue flight forced open an emergency exit and ‘tried to jump out’ during a heated argument with his girlfriend about her cellphone.
JetBlue Flight 161 leaving from Boston Logan International Airport was stopped on the tarmac after a man pulled open a plane door and triggered an emergency slide, according to the Massachusetts Port Authority.
The plane, heading to San Juan, Puerto Rico, had just started taxiing and was still on the ground when the incident occurred at around 7:30 pm on Tuesday.
‘I guess the boyfriend wanted to see the girlfriend’s phone, and she wouldn’t let him see,’ passenger Fred Wynn, who was sitting behind the couple, told NBC10.
Wynn explained that the man then leaped out of his seat and ran down the aisle to an emergency door before frantically opening it.
‘We have a passenger that opened an emergency exit door and tried to jump out the airplane,’ the plane’s pilot told Air Traffic Control.
‘Then he went to the door and as soon as the door was open, the air marshal tackled him. Once they got him to the ground, I think everybody felt safe,’ he said to WCVB.
Plane law enforcement officials were able to tackle the man and stop him from jumping out of the plane, JetBlue told WCVB. No one was injured during the disturbance.
A man was arrested after he opened an emergency exit on a JetBlue flight during an argument on Tuesday night
Emergency vehicles and buses surrounded the plane after it was stopped on the tarmac
The man was handcuffed and taken off the flight. He was detained by Massachusetts State Police and is due to appear at East Boston District Court on Wednesday.
His identity will not be released until he is charged, police said.
Other plane passengers were reportedly panicked as the dramatic situation unfolded.
‘They were freaking out,’ Wynn told WCVB.
Video footage from the aircraft showed officials surrounding the man as he was escorted off the flight in handcuffs.
Outside of the plane, police cars and and buses surrounded the scene.
JetBlue told DailyMail.com that the flight was swapped over to another aircraft and all the passengers have safely arrived to San Juan. The airline could not confirm what the argument was about.
NBC10 reported that passengers were stuck on the tarmac for about three hours before being transferred by bus to the second plane.
Tuesday night’s emergency landing came after two dead bodies were found in the landing gear of another JetBlue aircraft.
On Monday, the bodies were found after the flight from New York’s JFK airport had landed in Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood Airport in Florida.
Their bodies were reportedly badly decomposed when they were discovered.
Broward Sheriff’s Office Spokesperson Carey Codd told DailyMail.com that both victims were pronounced deceased at the scene.
Codd added that autopsies are set to be performed and that the investigation is ongoing.
The plane was reportedly stopped for three hours before the other passengers were able to move to another and fly to Puerto Rico
JetBlue told DailyMail.com: ‘On Monday evening, January 6, at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, two individuals were found in the landing gear compartment of one of our aircraft during the routine post-flight maintenance inspection.
‘Tragically, both individuals were deceased. At this time, the identities of the individuals and the circumstances surrounding how they accessed the aircraft remain under investigation.
‘This is a heartbreaking situation, and we are committed to working closely with authorities to support their efforts to understand how this occurred.’
This article was originally published by a www.dailymail.co.uk . Read the Original article here. .