Passenger On Flight Opens Exit Door Moments Before Take Off Activating Emergency Slide; Arrested

The passenger who opened the exit door of the Delta airlines flight was arrested by the police at the Los Angeles International Airport because of his unruly behaviour.

A Delta airline passenger was arrested on Saturday for allegedly opening an emergency door of a flight. The incident occurred while the plane was at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). The opening of the emergency door activated the emergency slide of the aircraft. The passengers took the action right before the aircraft's takeoff while it was on its way to Seattle. The man at the LAX airport wearing a red and blue striped shirt (as per Fox News) remains unidentified.

As per the news report, the man on the Delta airlines Los Angeles-Seattle plane ran toward the front end of the plane while the plane was preparing for its take-off moving away from the gate. Later on, the man interacted with a flight attendant and asked her "what do I do now?"

As per Fox11's report, the flight attendant insisted that he sit down, but the man sprinted away from her and raced to the emergency exit doors of the aircraft, turned the latch, unlocked the door, and activated the emergency slide. The passengers who witnessed the incident said that when the plane was forced to halt, the man leaped onto the back of a luggage trolley, where staff members held him down until LAX Police arrived.

Fox News quotes Los Angeles saying, "Airport Police responded and detained the passenger for further investigation. Due to the circumstances, the FBI was notified." 

Addressing the issue, Delta Airlines said, "Delta flight 1714 operating from Los Angeles to Seattle returned to the gate due to an unruly passenger. The aircraft was holding to taxi for takeoff when the passenger exited the aircraft and was initially detained by Delta staff ahead of being arrested by local law enforcement."

Passengers on the Delta Air Lines plane were escorted off after the incident and transferred to another aircraft. According to FlightAware.com, the flight, which was bound for Seattle, Washington, was delayed by three hours as a result of the incident.