In the early hours of Saturday morning at Los Angeles International Airport, a Delta Air Lines passenger was detained after blowing an emergency slide on a flight to Seattle.
The passenger, who was seated in the back of the airplane, is said to have made it to the front of the aircraft, avoided the attention of the flight attendants, and then opened one of the forward doors, triggering the emergency slide.
DL1714, a Delta Air flight, was preparing to take off on Saturday at around 10 a.m. when the passenger got up from his seat and made his way to the front of the aircraft.
In the end, a replacement aircraft had to be found, resulting in the flight arriving in Seattle more than three hours later.
Video from that DL 1714 incident: pic.twitter.com/KGpWOwICOR
— 🇺🇦 JonNYC 🇺🇦 (@xJonNYC) March 27, 2023
According to reports, the passenger was not legally detained but rather taken to a nearby mental health center for assessment. However, the incident was reported to the FBI.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Delta said the flight was forced to return to the gate due to an “unruly passenger”.
“The aircraft was holding to taxi for takeoff when the passenger exited the aircraft and was initially detained by Delta staff ahead of being arrested by local law enforcement,” the spokesperson added.
“Customers are being reaccommodated on a new aircraft and we apologize for the inconvenience and delay in their travel plans.”
Photo cover via twitter: JonNYC @xJonNYC
