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A Canadian man — who had to be restrained with duct tape after allegedly trying to open the door of a plane mid-flight on Tuesday — called himself the “captain” and put a flight attendant in a “semi choke-hold,” according to a report obtained by the National Post.
The American Airlines flight was leaving from Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport to Dallas on Nov. 19.
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Some time after takeoff, the man approached a flight attendant, according to the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Department of Public Safety’s incident report. The flight attendant said she thought the man was going to the bathroom to throw something out. But then, he complimented her on her watch and said he liked her face mask.
Then he made a comment about “wanting and needing to exit the aircraft now,” the flight attendant said, per the report.
The man was getting increasingly agitated, she said, so she asked for help from her colleagues. She also gestured at some passengers for assistance.
The flight attendant put herself between the man and the cabin door when he “jumped on top of her to gain access” to it, per the report. She said she was “hit hard.”
A passenger “bear hugged” the man and tried to pull him off of the flight attendant, the report explained.
“He turns and he says, ‘I’m getting off this flight,’” passenger Doug McCright told FOX 4 Dallas-Fort Worth. “There was this smaller flight attendant between him and the door and there was no way she was going to keep him from grabbing and disarming that door … I just got behind him. I grabbed him and pulled him back.”
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Accounts from other passengers on the flight detailed the incident in a similar way. One person told police he heard a flight attendant scream for help. Another said she heard the man saying “he wanted to get off the flight because he was the ‘Captain.’” Yet another said he saw the man attack a second flight attendant, putting her in a “semi choke hold.”
Passengers said they tried to deescalate the situation to no avail. After asking for zipties to subdue the man, a flight attendant handed a passenger duct tape. Working together, several passengers eventually taped the man’s wrists and legs.
The man was held down by passengers until the plane landed, one person told police, per the report. When the flight landed at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, airport police and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation removed him from the plane in a wheelchair. He was detained for a mental evaluation.
The man’s address was listed as a residence in Collingwood, Ont., according to the report.
American Airlines responded to the incident in a statement.
“The safety and security of our customers and team members is our top priority and we thank our team members and customers for managing a difficult situation,” they told ABC News.
No arrests have been made, per the publication.
The flight attendant was taken to hospital with injuries to her wrist and neck.
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