7mo ago

Passengers duct tape man who allegedly tried to open door during American Airlines flight to Texas

www.nbcnews.com

Summary

Passengers on an American Airlines flight from Milwaukee to Dallas-Fort Worth restrained a Canadian man with duct tape after he allegedly attempted to open a cabin door mid-flight, claiming he was the “captain” and needed to exit.

The man became aggressive, injuring a flight attendant as he rushed toward the door.

Several passengers, including Doug McCright and Charlie Boris, subdued him, using duct tape to secure his hands and ankles.

Authorities detained the man upon landing, and the incident remains under investigation.

98 comments

- But ultimately I'm mostly just glad they kept him from opening the plane. That's the obvious first priority there. Damn.
  It’s physically impossible to open a door on an airplane during most stages of the flight. The door first needs to move inward before opening, and the pressure differential is absurd. The handle would break long before you’d open the door. The only time it’s really possible is near the ground as you’re coming in to land or taking off (which did happen recently).
  
  Boeing aircraft have this safety feature where it fucking immediately falls off so you can always get out if you are the Captain and need to escape from the bad duct tape wielders.
  
  I'm going to trust that you're correct.
  But I'm still going to duct tape the psychopath for everyone's safety, including the psychopath.
  
  That's not true on every plane.
  Typically for doors that don't open inward first, they have interlocks.
  For example, the over wing doors on a 737ng don't open inward, they are actually spring loaded on a hinge and swing directly outward, there is a locking pawl that engages and disengages automatically under specific circumstances, requiring the squat switches on the landing gear to be engaged and the throttles to be in an idle position.
- Opening the door during flight is attempted murder of everyone on board, fuck him. I hope it was hard to breathe the whole time and they put him in a nice padded cell for a while.
  
  Considering he was claiming to be the captain and trying to get off the plane it seems highly likely he was having some kind of mental breakdown. He needs proper medical care and a psychological evaluation, not summary execution. Yes he was a danger to himself and others, but that doesn't mean he's guilty of attempted murder. A padded room might be appropriate depending on the psych evaluation, but wishing suffering on him without knowing the full situation is too much.
  
  Found the cop.
  
  They probably were going through some kind of mania or hallucination episode.
  Don’t always assume the worst in people, “eye for an eye” has never worked.
  
  In most airplanes, it's impossible to open the doors while the plane is in the air due to air pressure keeping them in place.
  
  I mean, it's an attempt, but it's in no way possible to actually do. That's thousands of pounds of pressure on that door. I'd bet on the handle breaking off before the door opens mid-flight.
Toothbrush
Headphones
Neck pillow
DUCT TAPE.
- I need my tools!
I understand the need to neutralize the threat but duct taping someone to Texas is just cruel
- Truly a punishment that doesn’t fit the crime.
Assuming it wasn't a Boeing, he wouldn't have been able to get the door open, so at least they weren't in any real danger.
- Well, not from the door opening, you are right (pressure difference and such). But he already injured a flight attendant, so I guess he wasn't going to say "oh well it doesn't open, I tried, I'll sit down quietly now".
  
  I wasn't meaning to suggest that. Just that he wasn't endangering everyone on the plane.
  
  "Whoopsie-doodles! Sorry y'all, I thought that was gonna open. Don't mind me none!"
- Tbf, being with a violently aggressive person in a tight enclosed space is still risky regardless
  
  I agree. I didn't mean to suggest that. I was just trying to say he couldn't have opened the door at altitude.
  
  Having worked in childcare in college, I once had a angry child bite me. Their little baby teeth broke skin.
  Humans, even without weapons, can do a lot of damage.
- That depends on where in the flight he tried to open the door. The article says mid flight but that could mean anything.
  Above 10,000 ft he wouldn't be able to open the door because of the pressure difference but below that and he would have no problems since the cabin isn't pressurized and the doors aren't locked with any key or anything.
  
  Depends on the aircraft. In a 737 the doors drop pins once the takeoff roll begins. He wouldn’t be able to physically open the door at that point.
- A319
  
  If you are talking about this, the plane was landing. When it is at cruising altitude, cabin pressure makes that impossible.
  https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-65705276
- The year is 2024. Publications no longer need to save headline space by ignoring common punctuation usage. Why do they still do this?
  
  People’s brains are so baked by the dopamine slot machine of the internet that the most compelling part has to be put in the first couple words or people won’t read it.
including Doug McCright and Charlie Boris
Should I know these guys?
- I can’t believe you forgot the members of Dirty Mike and the Boys
Why is duct tape easily available on the airplanes then normal rope to tie? Are the airplanes required to use the duct tape in an emergency case?
- 2 things
  when it's an airplane we call it speed tape and its used all over the aircraft, mostly by maintenance, to keep the plane together. Don't worry about it.
  This probably wasn't duct tape anyway, but special tape for passenger restraint, similar to zip ties, that is stored on board for use in this type of situation
  
  when it’s an airplane we call it speed tape and its used all over the aircraft, mostly by maintenance, to keep the plane together. Don’t worry about it.
  ...prior to this comment, I hadn't.
  
  There is duct tape carried on some commercial airliners.
  This is not the same as speed tape, and aluminum tape is not generally carried on airliners. That stays with the mechanics.
- Duct tape is used on airplanes all the time, so it's readily available & multi-purpose. While it looks super sketchy, it's actually pretty decent for a temporary fix until a proper repair can be implemented. Sometimes they're criticized for leaving the temporary duct tape fixes on far too long. 🙃🙃🙃🙃
  
  It's 100% true. Nothin more permanent than a temporary fix
- Why would an airplane need regular rope?
  Alternatively, duct tape might have been something the passengers had on hand so they didn’t have to request something from staff
  
  When are we ever going to use the fucking rope?
- It makes sense because the tape is more versatile, and because practically nobody knows how to tie good knots.
Something tells me he was not the captain. But I'll wait for all the facts to come out before I rush to judgement.
- Good thinkin, Cap!
They duct taped him TO TEXAS?!?
There was a CSI episode with a situation similar to this. Of course, since it's CSI, the way that turned out was the mentally ill person was killed (and the episode was about the passengers/crew subtly covering for each other).
Nice case of how in real life, people avoid harm when possible, and in fiction, people are all secretly ruthless savages out for each other's blood.
Oh; I should say, in fiction, and for police, who similarly live in fiction-land.
Duct tape fixes everything
Duct taped to the whole of the state?
- Live in Texas, can confirm. I'm currently taped to his ankle.
Who flies with duct tape?
Reminds me of a certain Airforceproud95 video.
- No idea what you're talking about
  
  I think they mean Bearforce1
  https://youtu.be/-aCO2XoXFzY?si=1yusMiuFBoGlnGeu
In a Boeing, right?

98 comments