‘Anxious’ Woman Opens Emergency Exit, Climbs Onto Wing Of Alaska Airlines Plane

A passenger aboard an Alaska Airlines flight had a rather unconventional deboarding process as she opened the emergency exit and climbed over the wing as she had become “anxious”, according to a report in Fox News. As per authorities, the incident took place on Sunday (Dec 22) just after 5 pm local time at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport just as the Alaska Airlines flight 323 was disembarking.

After the plane landed and passengers started filing off the plane and into the airport terminal, the woman allegedly became anxious and climbed out onto the wing of the plane, leading to frantic calls from the cabin crew. The Port of Seattle fire department was called into action to help the passenger get off the aircraft before any tragedy could happen.

After safely rescuing the woman, the fire department sent the passenger to the hospital for evaluation while Port Police was informed about the incident.

Alaska Airlines confirmed that the incident involving a “disruptive guest” was “safely resolved”, whilst thanking the flight attendants.

“We are working with our crew and airport officials to gather more details about what may have transpired,” the airline spokesperson said.

“We thank our employees for their swift response and apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused our guests.”

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Previous incidents

This is not the first instance when Alaska Airlines has made headlines this year. In January, a Boeing 737-9 MAX airplane belonging to the airline had to make an emergency landing after one of its doors blew open mid-air, minutes after take off. Videos taken by passengers showed that the mid-cabin exit door had completely separated from the aircraft.

In August, a passenger was arrested in Australia after he exited a stationary Jetsra flight through an emergency exit, walked along the wing, and climbed down a jet engine to the tarmac of the Melbourne Airport. He was detained by aircrew and ground staff before police arrested him.

As per the police statement, the man, identified as Audrey Varghese, was arrested for alleged aggressive behavior and breaching aircraft safety protocols.