Plane horror as passenger opens emergency exit and 'jumps out' of aircraft
Chaos erupted onboard a Jetstar flight when a passenger attempted an unusual exit upon landing.
As Jetstar flight JQ507 from Sydney touched down at Melbourne Airport around 10 a.m. on Thursday, August 22, a man pulled open the emergency exit door.
Ignoring crew instructions and fellow passengers’ pleas to “please sit down,” the man, believed to be in his 30s, leaped onto the aircraft’s wing and slid down the evacuation slide before being quickly restrained by ground staff.
Before his dramatic exit, the man had been pacing around the cabin, seemingly unresponsive to the flight attendants’ instructions to remain seated. A passenger named Adam, who witnessed the incident, said the man appeared to be experiencing a mental health crisis.
Adam told Sky News, “As we were taxiing to the gate, the man stood up and ignored instructions to sit down. He looked disturbed, possibly having a psychotic episode. When we reached the gate, he suddenly opened the emergency exit, despite everyone screaming at him to stop and some trying to restrain him.”
Despite attempts by several passengers to hold him back, the man managed to escape through the exit door, causing further panic among those onboard.
Plane horror as passenger opens emergency exit and
Adam described the scene as tense, noting that many passengers were unsure of what was happening, and a woman seated in the emergency exit row was visibly traumatized.
A Jetstar spokesperson confirmed that the incident occurred after the plane had parked at the gate and that the emergency slide had automatically deployed when the exit door was opened. The passenger was subsequently arrested by the Australian Federal Police.
