Man opens airplane door: can ya’ blame him?

Posted on March 31st, 2009 by Harriet Baskas

According to this article, Robert McDonald, a passenger on a Delta flight heading from JFK to Las Vegas on Sunday after arriving from Rome, is in big trouble after trying to open an emergency exit door while the airplane waited out a delay at JFK airport.

Flight 149 pulled back from the gate just after 5 p.m. but was delayed on the taxiway for more than 2 1/2 hours due to bad weather and congested skies, common issues at JFK. Around 7:45 p.m., McDonald, who was traveling with his wife, lost his cool, prosecutors said.

“Apparently, the defendant wanted to get off the plane,” District Attorney Richard Brown said, “so he opened the emergency exit door.”

Wrong, sure. But, when you’re stuck in that sort of “when will we get out of here?” limbo, don’t you sometimes think about doing exactly the same thing?