The commander of a B-737/800 aircraft operated by American Airlines had to reverse course and make an emergency landing at the departure airport after a passenger attempted to open the door of an emergency exit immediately after the take-off. Lots of fear on board flight AA1219, but no injuries. The troublesome traveler was blocked and immobilized by the other people on board.

It was reported by the television station "Cnn". According to an initial reconstruction of the incident, the aircraft took off at 1.40pm local time from the "Sunport" international airport of Albuquerque, in the United States, headed for Chicago-O'Hare airport. Suddenly, for reasons yet to be ascertained, a passenger sitting in the row near the emergency exit got up and tore off the protection of the handle. At that point other passengers stopped him.

The man "opened the window that protected the handle" of the door. Then "he pulled the emergency exit handle and all the wind came pouring down", said passenger Emma Ritz. "He pulled it pretty good, I could feel the actual pressure difference, there was a whistling sound", said another traveller, Blaze Ward, who reports being among the people who intervened to stop the troublesome passenger. Alerted, the pilot reversed course and landed in Albuquerque at 2.42pm on February 20, 2024.

Below, the video.