'Traumatized': Man Jumps Out of Emergency Exit on Southwest Airlines Plane The incident occurred late Sunday night in New Orleans.
By Emily Rella
Opinions expressed by BIZ Experiences contributors are their own.
A passenger was detained after jumping out of a stationary airplane on the tarmac at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Louisiana on Sunday night.
The man, who has not been publicly identified, opened the emergency exit door on a Southwest Airlines plane, jumped onto the tarmac, and attempted to hop into a service truck — and drive away with it.
Related: Airline Employee Tosses Passenger's Wheelchair Down Tarmac
Witnesses caught the ordeal on camera and the footage quickly went viral on social media.
@homewithhann On a busy Sunday night travel day after thanksgiving break. I gotta know why he did it!!? Wrong answer only?… *video credit to my husband who saw it happen at the New Orleans international airport. #holidaytravel #jailtime #airplanetiktok #southwestairlines #southwest #issuesattheairport #travelersoftiktok #crazytravelstory #fyp #tiktoksawitfirst #neworleans #nolaairport #neworleansairport ♬ MONACO - Bad Bunny
@zedweb08 jumped out the exit door right before the plane took off and alledgely threw something on the plane, i started recording because they were arguing , this was a very tramatic event. Flight 3172 from MSY - ATL #flightdrama #Neworleans ♬ original sound - Zed ✨
"Thank God yall are ok," one commenter wrote. "Traumatized just watching this."
Airport employees apprehended the man on the tarmac where he was detained until proper authorities came to remove him from the airport.
"We commend our flight and ground crews for their swift action and apologize to our customers for their inconvenience," Southwest Airlines told local outlet WWL4 in a statement.
According to FlightAware, the flight landed at its destination in Atlanta two hours and 28 minutes behind schedule on Monday morning.
Related: Passenger Makes Bomb Threat in Las Vegas Airport
The man was not arrested though he was taken to a local hospital for an evaluation.
Southwest Airlines did not immediately respond to BIZ Experiences's request for comment.
