Southwest Passenger Hospitalized After Opening Emergency Exit and Climbing onto Plane Wing

• A Southwest Airlines passenger was hospitalized after he opened the plane’s emergency door and climbed onto the wing.
• The incident occurred around 7:41 PM CT at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, La.
• The passenger’s behavior appeared to be the result of a “mental health emergency,” according to a news release from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

A Southwest Airlines passenger was taken to the hospital Sunday night after he opened the plane’s emergency exit.

Getty

According to a press release from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office shared with PEOPLE, the 38-year-old man climbed onto the wing of the plane before jumping to the ground while still standing at the door before takeoff. The incident occurred at approximately 7:41 PM CT at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans.

The man was taken to a local hospital after deputies observed him to be “incoherent and not fully aware of his surroundings,” according to the release. As the passenger’s behavior appeared to be the result of a “mental health emergency”, he was not arrested or charged criminally.

As of Monday afternoon, the man is still in the hospital and the investigation has been turned over to federal authorities.

Twitter users are roasting Southwest Airlines for giving passengers ukuleles on a flight to Hawaii

Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, Louisiana.

Chris Graythen/Getty

In a statement to PEOPLE, a Southwest Airlines representative said, “We commend our flight and ground crew for their swift action and apologize to our customers for the inconvenience.”

They added that the flight eventually took off for Atlanta before reaching its final destination of Baltimore.

Southwest Airlines has joined the list of airlines that ban emotional support animals on their flights

A Southwest Airlines plane.

Getty

In March, Southwest Airlines passengers witnessed another alarming incident when a flight departing from José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing.

The plane was headed to Fort Lauderdale, Florida when an engine fire broke out due to a bird strike. Video footage of the plane’s passengers showed the cabin filling with thick smoke as oxygen masks dangled above them.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

“The pilots returned safely to Havana where 147 customers and six crew members evacuated the plane via slide due to smoke in the cabin,” an airline spokesperson told PEOPLE at the time.

“Customers and crew were bussed to the terminal and placed on alternate flights to Fort Lauderdale,” they added.

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education