A flight attendant on a nine-hour flight from Spain to South America broke their leg after they were forced to wrestle a passenger attempting to open an emergency exit door. The attendant reportedly fractured the fibula bone in their lower leg and was signed off work for four after the incident on Saturday.
The nine-hour flight from Madrid to Venezuela started going downhill when a passenger began “slapping and shouting” at another passenger who was asleep near them, reports Business Insider. Crews intervened and moved the unruly passenger, before they attempted to open an emergency exit on the Plus Ultra flight.
While restraining the passenger, the crewmember on Flight 701 fractured a bone in their lower leg, reports the Latin Times. They were treated by medical personnel, but a representative from the Spanish airline confirmed that they would be off work for several weeks to recover.
What happened to the passenger?
Video shared on social media shows the cabin crew rushing to try and detain the passenger once they made a beeline for the emergency exit. The crewmember was injured in the altercation, but cabin crew were still able to detain the unruly passenger, as the Latin Times adds:
“Immediately, our cabin crew subdued the passenger and, following the action protocol, secured him in the back of the plane until he reached the destination,” a Plus Ultra spokesperson said, according to the Post. “At all times he was accompanied by two people from the crew, lying on the ground and attended to avoid any possible altercation.”
The passenger was taken into custody once the aircraft landed in Caracas and authorities in Venezuela are expected to launch an investigation into the incident.
What happens if a plane door opens at altitude?
Crews onboard the aircraft responded with strong force when the passenger attempted to open the door, as opening a plane’s emergency exit can lead to serious issues onboard.
If the passenger had managed to open the exit door, it’s likely that the emergency slides on the aircraft would have deployed and pressure inside the cabin would drop suddenly – leading to oxygen masks dropping down for passengers to use. Crews would then declare an emergency onboard, before beginning a descent and searching for a safe space to land, reports the BBC.
A plane door opening at altitude isn’t quite as dramatic as it appears in the movies, and people and their possessions probably wouldn’t be sucked out into the sky as the pressure equalizes. Opening an exit door can lead to injuries onboard, though, so it’s for the best that this unruly passenger was detained at the back of the aircraft until they could be escorted away by the authorities.
