Another passenger described his “frightening” experience on board an airplane in which a man ripped open the emergency exit on the tarmac after landing.
Flight JQ507 left Sydney for Melbourne, one of the busiest air routes in the world, at around 8:15am on Thursday and arrived at the airport shortly before 10am.
The A320-200 aircraft was approaching its assigned gate when a passenger threw himself at the emergency door, broke it open and triggered the emergency slides.
He then climbed through the exit onto the wing. One photo shows the man seemingly dangling in the air while holding onto the plane’s engine.
The passenger was arrested and later detained by federal police.
Kyle Kenneth, a passenger on board the flight, shared a video on TikTok revealing that he was sitting in the window seat in the emergency exit row and watching the whole drama.
He said the flight was normal until the man ran to the ground after landing and tried to exit the plane.
Kenneth said the male passenger was not aggressive, but that people shouted “stop” when they realized what he was doing and flight attendants tried to restrain him “with all their might.”
“He didn’t notice anyone else. He just had this one focus, this look in his eyes, and he kept trying to reach the emergency exit,” he said in the video.
“It was a bit surreal. I didn’t think he was actually going to do it because we had just landed and they were opening the main exit and he literally just wanted to get out the door.
“With one hand he grabbed the thing, pulled the lever and ripped off the door, which weighs about 100 pounds. After he opened the door, everyone around him seemed to give up. We all stepped back and he ran out onto the wing.”
The TikTok user said everyone simply had to wait on the plane until the situation with the man was resolved while he was cared for on the tarmac before they could disembark.
Kenneth said he did not believe the man had any evil intentions and suspected he might be suffering from a mental disorder.
“Personally, I believe he had psychological problems and didn’t mean any harm. He wasn’t aggressive, he almost looked scared, like he had to get off the plane at that moment,” he said.
He said it was “quite scary” and explained that after the incident he had spoken to some passengers who told him the man had gone to the toilet several times during the short flight and was “looking from the side” and watching the exits.
“I’m just really thankful it didn’t happen while we were in the air,” he added.
