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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| Psycho Tries To Open Airplane Door At 30k Feet--That's A Beatin' |
| 2007-08-26 |
| 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." |
| Posted by:Anonymoose |
| #21 Not sure of a web site. I got my training in close-in grappling and joint locks fromt he US Government. Its akin to aikido but without the concern for the opponent. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-08-26 23:58 |
| #20 Delta Airlines has been providing training in airplane aisle martial arts for a number of years at their Cincinnati airport hub (which is naturally across the river in Covington, KY). One of the black belts at our Tae Kwan Do school is a senior stewardess, and she and Master Sun Park developed the techniques together after 9/11. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2007-08-26 23:37 |
| #19 Good point about getting the perp off his feet first, but if he's holding on to something substantial or his body's braced, most people would have trouble retaining their hold on his ankles. Old Spook, could you provide a link to places that illustrate how to do as you suggest in the aisle of an airliner? |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-08-26 23:09 |
| #18 AH there is a certain set of pain and holds that can be used to subdue even the maniacs. A lot of joint lock pressures cut through even the looniest. And if they push hard, THEY snap their own bones and tear the muscles from them. Turns them into rag doll appendages, so either way they are not a threat. Once the tendons come away from the bone or the bone snaps, they arent moving much. Trust me on that one. |
| Posted by: OldSpook 2007-08-26 22:58 |
| #17 What about a good ol'-fashioned kick in the balls? Darling, you are waaaaay too logical. Geddoudddahere! |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-08-26 22:26 |
| #16 And yes, if that were the case, kicking him in the balls really wouldn't necessarily do much to stop him. Even less if he was drugged to the gills. Saw a scrawny guy on PCP once ... nearly tore off a car door in his frenzy, put his hand through the glass, was bleeding, ran & tried to climb over a fence, falling on the pointy metal spikes at the top with no obvious impact at all. Pretty scary. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-08-26 22:13 |
| #15 Glad the guy was subdued quickly. I'm not a doctor of any kind, much less a psychiatrist, but I've been around paranoid schizophrenics, people suffering a psychotic break and people on the verge of one suffering from overwhelming anxiety attacks. If odds were being taken, I'd bet this guy was actually deranged and having a very severe anxiety attack or a psychotic break rather than being a failed jihadi. But others of our readers might be more qualified to make a good guess than I. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-08-26 22:10 |
| #14 I travel a lot on business and GOD help the first person that acts up near me. Good going Vigil and gang. |
| Posted by: Cyber Sarge 2007-08-26 21:40 |
| #13 What about a good ol'-fashioned kick in the balls? Just for the fun of it, if nothing else....) |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-08-26 21:22 |
| #12 AH - just for starters in a FUBAR such as this, shouldn't you go for the ankles first? I mean two helpers take one each and elevate? Get him off his feet and his arms become useless. You're right about trying a half nelson or wrist lock - too close quarters. Blet his ankles to a tray table - about knee level off the ground and I suspect he couldn't get far. |
| Posted by: Halliburton - Reality Imposition Division 2007-08-26 21:16 |
| #11 Duct tape - I don't leave home without it. Good for luggage repairs after Abdominal's crew gets done with it. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2007-08-26 17:18 |
| #10 Amen, AH. I've been part of teams that had to subdue patients (psychotic, or drug-induced, or just plain nasty) in emergency rooms, and it's not easy at all to get someone down and restrained. Try doing it in close-quarters in an airplane with nothing but belts and duct tape. And good point -- from where did the duct tape come? |
| Posted by: Steve White 2007-08-26 16:30 |
| #9 Definitely, there should be emergency restraints easily available to the flight crew, but then, for years Congress has allowed flight crew to carry firearms & the TSA has made that virtually impossible, it has probably done the same thing with restraints. I have had the experience of applying restraints to maniacs & it is a difficult process. Get the maniac's feet off the floor & disconnect his hands from anything he could use either to brace himself with or as a weapon. Forget about using pain as a means of control, It. Does. Not. Work. Especially in maniacs. Control would be even harder to establish in the aisle of an airliner, too many points of contact for your maniac to push against. Duct tape is very slow to deploy, it sticks to itself too much. I wonder where the duct tape came from. Maybe I should carry a roll on my next flight. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-08-26 16:14 |
| #8 Screw the X-pattern, just put about four turns around his neck, elbows, ankles and wrists and that'll keep him out of trouble. If that doesn't do it, then stick a piece over his nose and mouth. They had to tie him up with extension belts? Why should they have to struggle to find things to restrain him with? They should have provisions for that ready to go. Maybe just an extra roll of duct tape, but it should be figured out by now. |
| Posted by: gorb 2007-08-26 15:49 |
| #7 Come to think of it, the Taser was originally invented specifically for use in airplanes against hijackers. Yet for some reason, they are a rarity in airplanes. If they are worried about it falling into the wrong hands, just put a six button keypad on it as a security feature. Take it out of its holder and press a few buttons, then bam. |
| Posted by: Anonymoose 2007-08-26 15:34 |
| #6 Vigil and two other male passengers rushed over to help So, no one was willing to make a "Vigilante" wisecrack? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-08-26 13:59 |
| #5 After reading this, I can't help but wonder, was this guy just some "psycho" or did he have an alterior motive? Despite what little they say of his age and background, it made my antennae twitch. Perhaps something that was supposed to happen (i.e. an explosion or detonation of some kind), did not happen, driving this guy to act out in an "insane" manner by rushing the cockpit and then attempting to open the cabin door at 30k feet. |
| Posted by: eltoroverde 2007-08-26 13:59 |
| #4 Commercial aircraft are designed such that the doors are held closed by the force of the internal cabin pressure. That doesn't mean this moronic turd wasn't in desperate need of a serious beatdown. Anyone want to bet he tries this stunt ever again? |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-08-26 13:57 |
| #3 You can't open an airplane cabin door at that altitude. Commercial aircraft are designed such that the doors are held closed by the force of the internal cabin pressure. |
| Posted by: DMFD 2007-08-26 13:21 |
| #2 Damn! The X-Pattern, that was uncalled for. |
| Posted by: Lt Tragg 2007-08-26 13:21 |
| #1 beat him unconscious, tape him up like a mummy and you don't have to worry |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-08-26 12:22 |