Police took a man into custody after he opened a grounded plane's emergency exit door and walked out onto the wing. The incident occurred on Jan. 25 at Mexico City International Airport while an Aeromexico flight was delayed for hours.
The Mexico City International Airport released a statement, confirming the incident with the Aeromexio jet that was awaiting takeoff to Guatemala.
According to the airport's statement posted on social media, the man "posed on a wing and re-entered the cabin, without any harm to anyone ... or the aircraft".
Due to international security regulations, the airport staff turned the passenger over to police custody.
The man supposedly did so as a protest as Aeromexico made the passengers wait for over four overs without ventilation or water while the flight was stuck at the airport, according to a letter co-signed by the passengers against the airline. At least 77 passengers were believed to be on board the Aeromexico flight at the time of the incident.
"The delay and lack of air created conditions that endangered the health of the passengers. He saved our lives," passengers wrote in a letter translated from Spanish, according to media reports.
"The emergency exit was opened out of desperation after leaving us locked in for almost 4 hours without ventilation and without water," one person, who claimed to be on board, wrote in a caption on X, formerly known as Twitter, with a handwritten photo of a letter signed by passengers.
Los pasajeros del vuelo 672 de @Aeromexico NO estamos de acuerdo con la historia que están contando, se abrió la salida de emergencia por la desesperación tras dejarnos encerrados por casi 4 horas sin ventilación y sin agua, INJUSTO lo que pretenden hacer @mx_guardia pic.twitter.com/F6fFgeAstH
— Regina (@regina_villazon) January 25, 2024
The same passenger wrote the plane's doors were closed, passengers were "without information" and there were "elderly ladies on the verge of fainting".
An incident report filed with airport authorities mostly confirmed that version. The report said: "Around 11:37 am, a Mexican airline reported the beginning of a disturbance due to passenger discontent on flight AM672. The flight had been due to lift off at 8:45 am Thursday, but because of a maintenance alert on the plane, the captain had to return to the gate for the required maintenance.
"The passengers were unhappy and one of them opened the emergency door and stepped out on the wing. This event required the plane to be changed."
Más de 3 horas esperando a que @Aeromexico “solucionara” la falla de su aeronave, sin aire, con puertas cerradas, sin agua, sin información, señoras de la tercera edad al borde del desmayo y su empleada (de cuarta por cierto) burlándose de la situación @lopezdoriga @CarlosLoret pic.twitter.com/PiFkbd56Vr
— Regina (@regina_villazon) January 25, 2024
Meanwhile, it is still unclear if the man is still in police custody or has been released following the letter co-signed by his fellow passengers.
Over the last few months, quite a few safety issues have been reported in the airline industry. Just last week, a United Airlines flight made an emergency landing after one of its engines shut down mid-air. Last month, another United Airlines flight was forced to make an emergency landing due to a cracked windshield.
