Summary

Passengers on an American Airlines flight from Milwaukee to Dallas-Fort Worth restrained a Canadian man with duct tape after he allegedly attempted to open a cabin door mid-flight, claiming he was the “captain” and needed to exit.

The man became aggressive, injuring a flight attendant as he rushed toward the door.

Several passengers, including Doug McCright and Charlie Boris, subdued him, using duct tape to secure his hands and ankles.

Authorities detained the man upon landing, and the incident remains under investigation.

  • aTun@lemm.ee
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    7
    ·
    3 hours ago

    Why is duct tape easily available on the airplanes then normal rope to tie? Are the airplanes required to use the duct tape in an emergency case?

    • CoffeeJunkie@lemmy.cafe
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      59 minutes ago

      Duct tape is used on airplanes all the time, so it’s readily available & multi-purpose. While it looks super sketchy, it’s actually pretty decent for a temporary fix until a proper repair can be implemented. Sometimes they’re criticized for leaving the temporary duct tape fixes on far too long. 🙃🙃🙃🙃

    • Rolder@reddthat.com
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      2 hours ago

      Why would an airplane need regular rope?

      Alternatively, duct tape might have been something the passengers had on hand so they didn’t have to request something from staff

  • Apytele@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    45
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    5 hours ago

    The passenger was seen lying on his stomach with his hands behind his back bound as well as his ankles with duct tape, the report said.

    So for future reference, especially for those of you who do such things recreationally, facedown restraint is very risky from a respiratory standpoint, especially with the limbs back in the hogtie position, that is how the cops kill people (I would say accidentally except they have enough education on the topic to preclude that). But ultimately I’m mostly just glad they kept him from opening the plane. That’s the obvious first priority there. Damn.

    • TheRealKuni@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      9
      ·
      2 hours ago

      But ultimately I’m mostly just glad they kept him from opening the plane. That’s the obvious first priority there. Damn.

      It’s physically impossible to open a door on an airplane during most stages of the flight. The door first needs to move inward before opening, and the pressure differential is absurd. The handle would break long before you’d open the door. The only time it’s really possible is near the ground as you’re coming in to land or taking off (which did happen recently).

    • Carvex@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      9
      arrow-down
      35
      ·
      5 hours ago

      Opening the door during flight is attempted murder of everyone on board, fuck him. I hope it was hard to breathe the whole time and they put him in a nice padded cell for a while.

  • tquid@sh.itjust.works
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    22
    arrow-down
    3
    ·
    5 hours ago

    I understand the need to neutralize the threat but duct taping someone to Texas is just cruel

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    25
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    6 hours ago

    Assuming it wasn’t a Boeing, he wouldn’t have been able to get the door open, so at least they weren’t in any real danger.

    • Im_old@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      24
      ·
      5 hours ago

      Well, not from the door opening, you are right (pressure difference and such). But he already injured a flight attendant, so I guess he wasn’t going to say “oh well it doesn’t open, I tried, I’ll sit down quietly now”.

        • Im_old@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          9
          ·
          5 hours ago

          Well, not everyone at the same time, just one at a time! Lol

          I understand what you mean, I’m just kidding.

    • teft@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      5 hours ago

      That depends on where in the flight he tried to open the door. The article says mid flight but that could mean anything.

      Above 10,000 ft he wouldn’t be able to open the door because of the pressure difference but below that and he would have no problems since the cabin isn’t pressurized and the doors aren’t locked with any key or anything.

      • Coreidan@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        2
        ·
        1 hour ago

        Depends on the aircraft. In a 737 the doors drop pins once the takeoff roll begins. He wouldn’t be able to physically open the door at that point.

  • Cap@kbin.melroy.org
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    10
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    5 hours ago

    Something tells me he was not the captain. But I’ll wait for all the facts to come out before I rush to judgement.