US teen jumps out of plane through emergency door

The boy seemed to be under emotional distress during the flight, says San Francisco airport spokesperson

SAN FRANCISCO: A teenage boy jumped out of the emergency door of a plane, minutes after it landed in San Francisco.

The American citizen was one of the passengers on a plane flying from Panama City, Panama, to San Francisco, The Hindustan Times reported.

According to San Francisco airport spokesperson, Doug Yakel, the boy seemed to be under emotional distress during the flight.

His fidgety and anxious behavior, the spokesperson added, was noticed by passengers throughout the journey, but they were unable to stop him when he made the speedy exit.

The boy opened the emergency door of the aircraft, slid down the wing and jumped onto a tarmac, according to authorities. He was held by the airfield construction crew working nearby before the police arrived and arrested him. He did not sustain any injuries, said Yakel.

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Sophia Gibson, belonging to San Jose, narrated how fellow passengers were stunned when the youth jumped out of the plane onto the wing.

“It was as if he was like flying out, like it was really fast,” Gibson told San Jose television station KNTV.

Another passenger, Matt Crowder, of Atherton, described how people sitting near the exit door left their seats and alerted other passengers when the boy jumped out.

“They were yelling, ‘Tell the flight attendants. Relay the message back. The door’s open. Someone jumped off,’” Crowder told the television station. “It was pretty crazy.”



According to the Panama-based Copa Airlines, the door was closed by the flight attendants on board following the incident, and the plane taxied to the gate where all other passengers off-boarded safely.

However, a passenger, Isaac Rodrigues said that the door was not closed, but a crew member blocked the gap with her body as the plane approached the gate.

“They put one of the stewardesses to block it so no one would fall out of there or leave,” he said. “We were on the runway for about an hour.”

Runways and other flights remained unaffected, said Yakel.