Man Arrested After Barging into Cockpit of American Airlines Plane, Damaging Controls and Trying to Jump Out of the Window

A man was arrested in Honduras after he breached the cockpit of an American Airlines plane, damaging the cockpit and attempting to jump out of a window on the front of the plane.

According to the report by CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean, American Airlines Flight 488 was scheduled to fly from Honduras to Miami. During the onboarding process shortly before the flight was scheduled to depart, a man “lunged through the jetway, and then in through the open cockpit door, and then poked his head out of the window of the flight deck.”

The window, noted Muntean, is able to be opened by the flight crew in case of emergencies or if they need to ventilate the cockpit, but “it’s a pretty long drop from the flight deck window to the ground, about 15 to 20 feet.” Video taken at the airport showed the man with his upper body fully out of the window.

A pilot seeking to use that window for an emergency exit would typically use a rope, Muntean explained, and it was a good thing this man did not actually jump.

American Airlines had to get another plane and reboarded the other passengers to complete their trip to Miami. The company confirmed to CNN that the man, who was not named, had been arrested and some of their flight crew assisted in helping to detain him.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported 5,981 unruly passenger incidents in 2021, reported Muntean, and this was “maybe one of the most egregious acts we’ve seen” since this trend started.

“Honestly, the things that flight crews have to deal with now,” replied host Alisyn Camerota.

Watch the video above, via CNN.

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