Teen detained after jumping out of plane’s emergency exit
An impatient teen was detained at San Francisco Airport after opening an emergency exit door and quickly jumping on to the tarmac.
The 17-year old was on a Copa Airlines flight just arrived from Panama City when he suddenly opened up the over-wing emergency exit door and sprinted across the tarmac before the plane reached the gate.
He was then apprehended by airport construction workers and then taken for a medical evaluation.
As the plane was taxiing to the gate the boy reportedly jumped up and began shouting.
Before anyone could do anything, he was off the plane.
"It was as if he was like flying out, like it was really fast," said passenger Sophia Gibson.
The teen is a US citizen and was traveling alone, SFO spokesman Doug Yakel said.
Copa Airlines said it was fully cooperating with the ensuing investigation.
"A 17-year old passenger sitting in an exit row seat unexpectedly opened the emergency door, and slid down the wing of the aircraft onto the taxiway at San Francisco International Airport. The incident occurred a few minutes after landing, while the aircraft was taxiing to the gate," it asid in a statement.
"A Copa crew member closed the exit door, and the aircraft proceeded to the gate where all other passengers and crew disembarked safely."
Although rare, it is not the first incident of its kind.
The most recent incident happened last May on an American Airlines flight at Charlotte where a man was also accused of assaulting a flight attendant.
Disgruntled flight crew themselves have also been guilty of making a grand exit in a similar daredevil fashion.
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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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