Posted on 08/26/2007 6:57:43 AM PDT by COUNTrecount
Quick-thinking passengers and crew members managed to subdue a deranged man who tried to open an airplane door thousands of feet in the air on a flight to New York yesterday.
"There was a lot of panic," said passenger Bobby Vigil, who sat next to the man for most of the flight and later helped restrain him with duct tape and seat belts. "He tried to open the back door of the plane. He really wanted out at 30,000 feet."
Port Authority police met Frontier Airlines Flight 514 from Denver when it landed safely at LaGuardia Airport shortly before 6 a.m. After determining the culprit was emotionally disturbed, they took him to Elmhurst Hospital Center, Port Authority spokesman Pasquale DiFulco said. He was not charged.
Airline spokesman Joe Hodas said there were 128 passengers and five crew members aboard the A319 Airbus.
Vigil said the crazed man was bouncing up and down in his seat for most of the flight, clutching several boarding passes and kicking the row in front of him.
"He was playing with his hair, picking at his face and counting his fingers," said Vigil, 45, of Estes Park, Colo. "I thought he was anxious to get home or something."
Vigil said his rowmate left his seat to go to the bathroom in the front of the plane and briefly tried to open the cockpit door. The man, whom he described as Asian and about 20, then returned to his seat, only to get up 15 seconds later, go to the back of the plane and attempt to open the cabin door.
"I heard the flight attendant say, 'Help me!'" Vigil said. A struggle broke out, and Vigil and two other male passengers rushed over to help the attendant restrain the passenger.
"We taped him up in an 'X' pattern," said Vigil. "He wouldn't stay still or cooperate."
The man, whose name was not released, attempted to bite the tape off his hands and feet. Extension belts were used to keep him in place as the plane prepared to land, Vigil said.
Hodas said the man could not have opened the door even if he had not been subdued. "You need special training to open the door," he said.
Vigil, who works at a medical clinic, said he hopes his flight home to Colorado isn't as memorable. "It's my first trip to New York," said Vigil. "What a way to be welcomed."
"Hold yer fire". <<<
The way I read your post, you seem to suggest that we put up with Muslim antics and threatening, suspicious behavior without batting an eye and just go on about our business.
That's exactly what we shouldn't do....
Just curious, why is 30,000 feet an unusable altitude? Is it a turbulence thing?
I am glad you made this point. I had, as usual not completely explained my meaning. I had on my mind a previous thread (not this current one). People weighed in with many a quip about the ROP being likely involved. Then someone kindly referred to the name of the man. Somehow dear old Chang escaped that description.
The spiteful and sometimes deliberately cruel behaviour of the ROP adherents does upset people. They are so clever they just do not seem to go beserk. Oh no! They know what they are doing.
They are however, one jump ahead and are able to play good citizens like a fiddle. Witness the Seattle Two and the Six Imams. I do not have the best solution- and it is hard to know how to avoid being pushed by these nasty, sociopaths.
I still think those guys weren't anything more than CAIR plants fishing for a grievance lawsuit.
Real ROP terrorists wouldn't have acted so obvious.
I think 29,000 and 31,000 are legal, but 30,000 isn't.
That was smart thinking. Many people would have opted for the less effective ‘Q’ pattern which may work on the occasional arsonist but the Door Opening Psychos always call for the ‘X’ pattern of duct tape restraint.
The Qpattern? Ow thats painful..
With the pressure differential in the cabin, it’s impossible for a human to open the door. Inside air pressure keeps the door tightly sealed against the door frame. As others mentioned, the cabin must be depressurized first to make the door opening event possible. The pilots are not likely to cooperate on a depressurization.
Depressurization brings other problems, like a very big drop in temperature and a time of useful consciousness of a minute or less without an oxygen mask. Passengers and crew involved in a struggle will consume oxygen at a greater rate and thus pass out quicker at 30,000 feet. Those little yellow oxygen masks that drop from the ceiling are there so that you can have enough oxygen to stay conscious while the pilots quickly dive the airplane to a lower altitude where there is adequate oxygen.
Aircraft can fly at Flight Level 300, provided they are on the correct heading.
Probably a NY Yankee fan who just found out the Yanks are now 7.5 games back.
Sorry for the delayed reply. I was out on a trip and with no internet access.
I retired from that business three years ago, but last I knew, minimum vertical separation between aircraft above flight level 290 (29,000 ft.), was 2,000 feet. So, the next available cruising altitude above FL 290 is 310 or 31,000.
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