New Orleans airport incident: Passenger arrested after 'jumping from emergency door on flight 3172 &

Publish date: 2024-05-08

A MAN has been arrested after he allegedly jumped out of the emergency doors of a passenger plane before darting across the tarmac, cops have said.

The drama unfolded before Southwest Airlines travelers had even left New Orleans airport on Sunday.

Witnesses on board the jet told the CBS affiliate WWL that the person opened the emergency exit door before jumping out of the plane.

They claimed he then ran across the tarmac before trying to drive away in an airport truck.

Viral footage shared on TikTok showed passengers scrambling their belongings together as they rushed to leave the plane that was parked at Louis Armstrong Airport in Kenner, Louisiana.

Passengers were heard saying "go" as they rushed to leave the aircraft.

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Travelers were stunned on board the plane when others told them a passenger had left the plane.

Passengers were urged not to rush down the jetway as they evacuated the plane, heading toward the gate.

In the clip shared by the TikToker @zedweb08, one traveler was heard saying: "He put something down, and then he jumped off."

A man said: "I had never been so scared. I can't catch my breath."

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Footage panned to the tarmac where cops appeared to be wrestling someone to the ground near a truck.

Another video showed the man being escorted from the aircraft and led toward the terminal building.

The plane was heading to Atlanta from the Louisiana city.

Cops have not identified the man but revealed he had been taken to a hospital.

The incident unfolded just days after thousands of passengers flocked through the airport for Thanksgiving.

On November 16, Gervais Joubert, of the Transportation Security Administration, warned that more than 230,000 passengers would travel through the airport over 12 days, per The Times-Picayune.

A Southwest Airlines spokesperson told The U.S. Sun: "We commend our flight and ground crews for their swift action and apologize to our Customers for their inconvenience"

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