Passenger Jumps onto Southwest Airlines Plane Wing Through Emergency Exit at the Gate

On Sunday, a man on a Southwest Airlines flight at New Orleans Louis Armstrong International Airport opened an emergency exit door and climbed onto the plane's wing while the aircraft was at a gate, according to authorities.

The Jefferson Parish Sheriffs Office responded to the disturbance and apprehended the 38-year-old man after he opened the emergency exit door to access the wing and attempted to jump out. The plane had not yet departed the gate, and the man was stopped by ground personnel before deputies arrived and took him into custody.

Passenger Zed Webster recounted to CNN that he overheard what seemed to be a dispute between two passengers seated across the aisle from him and was worried it might escalate into a physical altercation. Feeling uneasy, he reached for his phone and started recording the unfolding situation.

Just as he began recording, Webster recounted that the passenger suddenly unlocked the emergency exit door and leapt out through the window. "I was absolutely petrified," he recalled.

The video from Webster's shows multiple passengers evacuating the plane and quickly moving through the jetway. In a later scene, an individual who seems to be an airline employee is seen jumping from the jetway onto the tarmac to help restrain the passenger.

When deputies approached the passenger on the tarmac, they noticed that he seemed disoriented and unaware of his surroundings, as stated by the sheriff's office.

On June 21, 2023, in San Francisco, California, a plane from American Airlines touches down at San Francisco International Airport (SFO). (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

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The man was taken to a nearby hospital for assessment by deputies who suspected he was experiencing a mental health crisis, said the sheriffs office. He is currently still in hospital.

The statement also revealed that there were no signs of the man leaving anything on the plane or being in possession of any weapons. It was added that he is not anticipated to be charged locally, but the case has been passed on to federal authorities. Fortunately, no one was harmed during the incident.

Chris Perry, a Southwest Airlines representative, informed CNN via email that the airline applauds its flight and ground crews for their quick response and apologizes to its customers for any inconvenience. According to Perry, the flight eventually departed using a different aircraft. Webster noted that the delay lasted about two hours and the flight reached Atlanta shortly before midnight.