Summary
- Passengers protested the arrest of a person who opened an emergency exit and walked onto the wing attributable to a lengthy delay.
- The person was seen as acting to guard everyone, in keeping with passengers who signed an announcement demanding his release.
- Airport authorities claim the person turned himself in, complying with international regulations.
On Thursday, a person at Mexico City International Airport (MEX) was arrested after he opened an emergency exit and walked onto the wing of an aircraft while waiting at a gate. While this may occasionally initially appear to be a typical case of illegal passenger behavior, passengers onboard the aircraft beg to differ and truly defend the person’s motion.
Dozens of passengers signed a written statement protesting the airport’s decision to show the person over to the authorities, with online images of the statement indicating that the airline had kept the aircraft parked on the gate for hours while providing no ventilation or water to those onboard. Airport communications have begged to differ, indicating that the person turned himself over to police according to international regulations.
Photo: TamasV | Shutterstock
This incident occurred onboard Aeromexico flight 672, a often scheduled service from Mexico City to La Aurora International Airport (GUA) in Guatemala City. The flight, a 737 service that typically departs at 08:50 and is scheduled to reach at 10:46, didn’t depart Mexico City until 14:19 after a lengthy delay, in keeping with Flight Aware.
A two-sided debate
The passengers onboard were extremely displeased with their treatment during what amounted to almost a five-and-a-half-hour delay. Moreover, they were quick to defend the arrested individual’s actions.
The Washington Times reported that at the very least 77 passengers onboard the aircraft signed a handwritten statement demanding the passenger’s immediate release, photos of which have already circulated throughout social media. Based on reports, their statements repeatedly included the next jarring words to explain the person’s actions:
“[He acted] to guard everyone, with the support of everyone.”
Photo: Thiago B Trevisan | Shutterstock
Naturally, such outcry calls for a response from each the airport authorities and AeroMexico, and plenty of have begun to query how such a desperate situation could have arisen, akin to to drive a person to open an emergency exit and walk on the wing, in keeping with ABC News. The airport had the next words to share regarding the situation:
“Yesterday a passenger on a flight to Guatemala opened an emergency door on a plane while it was stationary at a distant position, stood on a wing after which re-entered the cabin, without affecting the aircraft or anyone else.”
While the aircraft was eventually swapped and the flight did takeoff, passengers undeniably were forced to come across a particularly uncomfortable situation. Aeromexico has yet to reply to Easy Flying’s inquiry for a comment regarding the incident.
Regulatory oversight
Tarmac delays, or situations wherein an aircraft is unable to taxi and take off, but passengers have already boarded, are extremely common at airports across the globe. Nevertheless, they may be a number of the most frustrating for passengers as they are sometimes trapped of their seats for hours at a time with no sign of ending.
Photo: agsaz | Shutterstock
Because of this, aircraft regulators set strict restrictions on how long airlines are allowed to be delayed on the apron before offering passengers a possibility to deplane. Based on the US Department of Transportation, airlines are required to offer passengers with a secure method to exit the aircraft once a delay has exceeded three hours for domestic flights and 4 hours for international flights.