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Woman tries to open plane door during flight before being restrained by passengers

Medical issue may be responsible for incident, says airport spokesperson

Zamira Rahim
Tuesday 19 March 2019 19:58 GMT
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A Delta Airlines jet sits at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in 2009
A Delta Airlines jet sits at the Detroit Metropolitan Airport in 2009 (Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)

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A woman has been arrested after she allegedly tried to open an emergency exit door during a flight from Indianapolis to Detroit.

The incident occurred shortly after her plane departed from Indianapolis International Airport.

Fellow passengers restrained the woman until the flight landed at about 6.45pm on Monday, officials said.

Erica Donerson, a spokesperson for Detroit Metropolitan Airport, said the woman may have been suffering from a medical issue.

The woman remains in custody but Ms Donerson said a preliminary investigation found she did not have criminal intent.

On Tuesday a spokesperson for the FBI said no federal charges would be filed against the passenger.

The flight was operated by Republic Airline, which apologised to affected customers on Tuesday.

“We’re aware of an incident which occurred on our flight 5972 on Monday evening,” a spokesperson told the Detroit Free Press.

“While we can confirm that the flight landed without incident and ahead of schedule, we’re unable to further comment as this matter is still being investigated.

“We apologise to any passengers who were affected by this incident.”

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