Man in custody after walking on wing of plane.
A United Airlines passenger was taken into custody Thursday morning at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport after opening the aircraft’s emergency exit and walking out onto the wing of the plane while it was taxiing.
Flight UA2478 from San Diego had landed at Chicago O’Hare shortly after 4am when the incident occurred.
As the plane taxied to gate B3, the 57-year-old Escondido, California, man pulled open the emergency exit and climb out onto the wing, before he “slid down onto the airfield.”
“A male subject was onboard a plane that was approaching the gate when he pulled the emergency exit and walked out onto the wing of the plane,” according to a statement from the Chicago Police Department.
“The subject then slid down the wing and onto the airfield,” police added.
“CPD arrived and placed him into custody. Charges are pending.”
A fellow passenger, Mary-Ellen Eagleton, told Chicago’s WGN9 news channel that others on the plane had shouted “No! no! no!” and a flight attendant had quickly run down the aisle to ask what had happened.
“Everyone was just surprised and kind of shocked,” she said.
“He had opened the door to the plane and we weren’t even at the gate yet.”
She said the man had not been acting erratically on the flight, and that as it had been a red-eye service, most passengers had been sleeping.
“Everybody was just kind of in shock, we just didn’t know why he would have done that.”
A statement from United Airlines said: “This morning United flight 2478 was taxiing toward the gate at Chicago O’Hare when a passenger opened an aircraft door and exited the plane.
“Our ground crew stopped the individual outside of the aircraft, and the person is now with law enforcement.
“The plane then arrived at the gate and all passengers deplaned safely. The safety of our customers and crew is our highest priority.”
[adblockingdetector id="638efa67113bf"]