Passenger who tried to open emergency door mid-flight beaten and restrained

A passenger on a Copa Airlines flight from Brazil to Panama was subdued and beaten after attempting to open the emergency door mid-flight – a chaotic moment captured in a viral video.

The disturbance took place on Tuesday aboard Copa Airlines flight CM204 half an hour before its landing in Panama City, according to reports.

The man grabbed a plastic knife from his meal tray and tried to take a flight attendant hostage while heading toward the emergency door, The New York Post reported. “A flight attendant started screaming, and another tried to hold him back, but couldn’t because he was too strong,” Cristiano Carvalho, a photojournalist who filmed the incident, was quoted as saying by the American outlet.

Carvalho described how passengers quickly intervened as the man reached the door, wrestling him to the floor. "They beat him a lot until he almost lost consciousness,” he said. The video shows passengers holding the restrained man, his face visibly bloodied, as crew members secured his wrists with zip ties.

Upon landing, Panama’s security team boarded the aircraft, taking him into custody. Copa Airlines praised the crew and passengers for their swift response, stating, “The crew acted quickly and, with the assistance of some passengers, applied the necessary safety protocols.”

Earlier in August, a passenger was arrested at an Australian airport after he left a stationary airliner through an emergency exit, walked along a wing, and then climbed down a jet engine to the tarmac.

Jetstar Flight JQ507 had arrived at Melbourne Airport from Sydney and had parked at a terminal gate when the man left the plane by the right-side exit.

Melbourne Airport at the time said the man was detained by aircrew and ground staff before police arrested him.

In February this year, a man had to be tackled and restrained by other passengers on board an American Airlines flight after he “aggressively” tried to open the plane door mid-flight.