According to the Associated Press, a 17-year-old made a spontaneous escape from a Copa Airlines flight minutes after it landed on the runway Tuesday. During a scheduled landing in San Francisco, the teen violated federal law by opening the airplane’s emergency door.
Other passengers on the flight reported that the 17-year-old seemed to be emotionally distressed before he exited the emergency door and jumped onto the tarmac. Matt Crowder, a passenger on the flight, told KTVU, a Fox affiliate, “They were yelling, ‘Tell the flight attendants. Relay the message back. The door’s open. Someone jumped off.”
The AP reports that the teenager was traveling alone from Panama City to San Francisco International Airport. Fortunately, nobody was harmed during the incident.
Officer Grace Gatpandan told the AP that the teenager was not charged by local authorities, but instead taken to a hospital to receive mental health treatment. Even if the passenger’s distressed state may have only caused by temporary stress from the flight (or from traveling alone), we hope that the passenger receives the help that he needs during his inpatient treatment.