A Virgin America Inc flight en route to Los Angeles from Boston was forced to make an emergency landing after a passenger attempted to open the plane door mid-air.
The plane made an emergency landing at Eppley Airfield in Omaha after 28-year-old Doug Adams, a native of Woodside, was restrained for causing chaos. "The man became disruptive ... and had possibly taken medication of some kind," said Dennis Messina, an airport operations supervisor, reports Reuters.
According to the police report, Adams was involved in a sexual act and when confronted he tried to open the door of the plane, reports abc7. "He was growing more upset and tried to pull the plastic latch off of a door and pull it open to try and open the aircraft door in flight. Apparently it can't happen, it doesn't work that way, but he was trying nonetheless to open the door," a passenger said.
Film producer Sam Slater, who was on board, said a doctor was called after Adams began mumbling about not wanting to become violent and demanding a seat change after arguing with a woman, reports the Associated Press.
"He at that point was fidgeting and began to remove the plastic covering from the emergency exit door, and tried to pull to open the door," Slater said. "Fortunately there were a couple of Boston police officers on the flight that were there to help as well."
After the emergency landing, police handcuffed the man and took him to a hospital. The plane then left for Los Angeles after an hour.
