An irate passenger on a Delta flight attempted to open the emergency exit in Atlanta after severe thunderstorms caused extensive flight delays.
Captured on video, the incident involved a man on Delta Air Lines Flight DL2879, who became increasingly agitated after enduring a three to four-hour delay prompted by the intense storms affecting the central United States on Monday.
“How long have we been delayed already?” the man, wearing a blue baseball cap, shouted while seemingly using the aircraft’s phone to express his frustration.
“Three? Four hours? And now you’re saying another hour?” he continued.
The Boeing 737-900, traveling from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport to Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, was halted due to a ground stop at O’Hare, as confirmed by Delta to the Daily Mail.
As crew members approached, the man persistently yelled, “Take me to the gate, I want off. Otherwise, I’ll get off myself.”
At that moment, he handed the phone back to a crew member, turned around and opened the emergency exit door.
‘Oh my god,’ one woman was heard screaming.
Footage from inside Delta Air Lines Flight DL2879 saw a male passenger losing his cool over a three to four hour delay amid the severe storms plaguing middle America on Monday
The Boeing 737-900 flight, headed for Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport from Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, became grounded due to a ground stop at O’Hare
In a statement to the Daily Mail, Delta said that an ‘unruly’ passenger attempted to open a cabin door as the flight, carrying 168 passengers, awaited take-off
‘Who are you? Doesn’t matter exactly. You know who matters? Me,’ the man was heard telling someone who attempted to intervene.
‘I told you idiots.’
Then, the pilot began to address the passenger over the aircraft’s PA system.
‘Hey sir- sir, this is the captain. Just- Hey, sir. Sir,’ the captain was heard announcing.
‘Here’s the pilot. Oh here’s the pilot. Okay, good,’ the frustrated passenger said.
‘This is the captain speaking. We are going to go back to the gate.’
‘Yeah good idea!’ the passenger responded.
In a statement to the Daily Mail, Delta said that an ‘unruly’ passenger attempted to open a cabin door as the flight, carrying 168 passengers, awaited take-off.
As the man continued yelling at the crew, he handed the phone back to a crew member, turned around and opened the emergency exit door
The flight pulled away from the gate at 7.38pm and eventually took off at 12.44am. It then landed at O’Hare at 3am local time
The aircraft taxied back to the gate where law enforcement met the aircraft and its crew to remove the passenger and the flight departed later that evening, according to the air line.
‘The safety of our customers and crew comes before all else, and Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior. We apologize to our customers on this flight for the delay in their travels,’ the statement said.
According to FlightAware, the flight pulled away from the gate at 7.38pm and eventually took off at 12.44am. It then landed at O’Hare at 3am local time.
The Federal Aviation Administration is investigating the incident, the New York Post reported. It remains unclear if the passenger was placed on the No-Fly list or faced any charges or fines.
The Daily Mail reached out to the FAA for comment.
