An off-duty Cleveland ISD police officer tackled a passenger who tried to open an emergency exit during a Southwest flight to Houston Sunday, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Corpus Christi.
Passengers said the unidentified woman had been shouting strange outbursts at Los Angeles International Airport prior to departure. They also said she'd been walking backwards, and questioned why she'd been allowed on the flight.
Office Pamela Minchew of the Cleveland ISD police department was off duty on a flight Sunday when she tackled a passenger who tried to open an emergency exit mid-flight.
An off-duty Cleveland ISD police officer tackled a passenger who tried to open an emergency exit during a Southwest flight to Houston Sunday, forcing the plane to make an emergency landing in Corpus Christi.
Passengers said the unidentified woman had been shouting strange outbursts at Los Angeles International Airport prior to departure. They also said she'd been walking backwards, and questioned why she'd been allowed on the flight.
The suspect was ultimately subdued by Pamela Minchew, an off-duty officer from Cleveland ISD in Liberty County, according to Cleveland ISD police chief Rex Evans, who said he spoke with Minchew Sunday evening.
"She had observed the irrational passenger attempting to open the exit door in midflight. Fearing for her safety and the safety of everyone on the plane, she took action and was able to restrain the passenger," Evans said. "She had no choice but to identify herself as a law enforcement officer and take immediate action."
Southwest Airlines confirmed in a statement that Flight 4519 was diverted to Corpus Christi International Airport after flight attendants notified the captain of a "potential threat" in the cabin.
"Following an uneventful landing, local authorities met the aircraft at a gate and removed the disruptive passenger," the airline said.
The flight was delayed more than five hours in Corpus Christi, after landing around 11:30 a.m. The flight to Houston resumed around 5 p.m., arriving an hour later at Hobby Airport.
Because the incident happened in the air, it is being investigated by the FBI, which did not respond to requests for information. The FBI was on the scene investigating after the plane landed, according to officials at Corpus Christi International Airport.
Terrance Franklin, a passenger on the flight, said the unruly passenger, an unidentified woman, spent the initial hours of the flight standing in the aisle occasionally yelling, until flight attendants tried to calm her.
Then he heard a ruckus, looked back down the plane and saw another passenger subduing the woman.
"Everybody was just in shock," he said from the Corpus Christi airport, where passengers had been allowed to leave the plane.
Franklin posted videos of the woman shouting and of her removal on Snapchat.
Adriana Bain, another passenger, said she saw a "scuffle" in the back of the plane.
"Then all I saw was the look of fright in the flight attendant's face, and I knew something was going on," she said.
Kristy Gillentine, a former journalist who was a passenger on the flight, said the woman had tried to open an emergency exit on the plane, but an off-duty police officer had leapt up to prevent her.
"The rest of the passengers cheered when the off-duty officer came back on board, hailing her as a hero," Gillentine said. "If she hadn't acted so quickly, things could have gone very differently."
Chief Evans said: "Airline personnel assisted in further restraining the female passenger with zip ties. They made an emergency landing to Corpus Christi where local and federal authorities met the plane and took the person into custody."
Evans said Minchew, who joined the force about three weeks ago, and her family were also taken off the plane "because she needed to help them with the investigation. Her small children were on the flight with her and this has been a very unsettling experience for them."
"I can't tell you how proud I am of her. She did a stellar job," Evans said. "The authorities are very pleased with how she handled the incident."
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Comment