Passengers Neutralize Knife-Wielding Man Who Took Flight Attendant Hostage And Tried To Open Emergency Exit Door

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Passengers rose to the occasion and neutralized a grim threat from a crazed man who not only tried to open the emergency exit door mid-flight, but also took a flight attendant hostage with a knife he had saved from the in-flight meal.

Knife-Wielding Man Neutralized By Fellow Passengers On Raucous Copa Airlines Flight

It was an eventful Copa Airlines flight on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, from Brasilia (BSB) to Panama City (PTY) after a man became agitated about 30 minutes before landing on the 6-hour flight and tried to open the emergency exit door.

The man grabbed the plastic knife from his meal tray and briefly took a flight attendant hostage while walking toward the emergency door. The New York Post reports:

“A flight attendant started screaming, and another tried to hold him back, but couldn’t because he was too strong.”

But passengers immediately surrounded the man, pulled him away from the emergency exit door, and…to put it nicely…beat the pulp out of him. In fact, he almost lost consciousness. There’s video:

#BREAKING | A passenger on a Copa Airlines flight from Brasilia to Panama City tries to open the plane’s emergency door mid-flight and is restrained by other passengers. pic.twitter.com/LMGNlcy9qa

— 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐝 𝐃𝐢𝐚𝐫𝐲 (@TheHeraldDiary) November 6, 2024

CM204 continued to PTY and landed safely, where police met the aircraft and arrested the man.

Copa downplayed the violence:

“The crew acted quickly and, with the assistance of some passengers, applied the necessary safety protocols to control the situation until landing in Panama. Thanks to the professionalism of the crew, the safety of the flight and passengers was protected.”

Yeah…I’d say the video shows the passengers stepping up and taking care of business.

And I’m thankful for this.

It’s something we see over and over again and why I believe that the US Federal Air Marshal program (and the equivalent in other nations) is not necessary…I do trust my fellow passengers to step up and believe that this case demonstrates why the best defense is always those around us (and whether it is simply out of self-interest or altruism, it seems to me that it does not matter…people will not tolerate disturbances like that on a flight).

I’m not naming the culprit or even necessarily condemning him. Sure, he could have an anger problem or it could be alcohol or drugs…but maybe it was something else so we can, at least now, separate the inappropriate act from the man who committed it.

But kudos to the passengers for stepping up and neutralizing the threat. When you play with fire, sometimes you get burned…welcome to the mile-high fight club.

image: @TheHeraldDiary/X // hat tip: View From The Wing