‘Delusional’ passenger tries to force open cabin door mid-flight
Passengers on a flight to Sydney had to wrestle a man to the floor who tried to force open an emergency aircraft door mid-flight.
The man was pinned down when he tried to kick open the emergency door on the Vietnam Airlines flight from Ho Chi Minh City on Monday.
A 27-year-old from Sydney is due to appear in court next month.
The man, who passengers described as ‘high’ and ‘delusional’ was shouting that he had been kidnapped and his life was in danger.
He was arrested on arrival at Sydney airport.
The incident happened on flight VN773 a few hours after take-off.
New Zealander Mark Ansley told New Zealand broadcaster TVNZ he was sleeping when he was woken by screaming and saw a man trying to kick open the exit door by the first exit row.
Ansley was one of the passengers who managed to restrain the man and tie him to a seat for the rest of the flight.
"A cable tie was handed to me and I couldn’t get it around his hands because he was fighting too much, so that’s why I decided to stun him or knock him out, which didn’t work," he said.
"But eventually I did stun him enough to stop him struggling. It was very scary, I was really shaken."
The airline is reportedly investigating the incident.
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Editor for TravelMole North America and Asia pacific regions. Ray is a highly experienced (15+ years) skilled journalist and editor predominantly in travel, hospitality and lifestyle working with a huge number of major market-leading brands. He has also cover in-depth news, interviews and features in general business, finance, tech and geopolitical issues for a select few major news outlets and publishers.
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