A man was arrested by police after airport officials said he opened the emergency exit door of an Aeromexico plane and ran onto the wing on a flight to Central America late last week. Passengers claim it because they were delayed for hours and needed help.
Mexico City International Airport acknowledged in a statement that the wild demonstration took place Thursday morning while the plane was on the ground waiting to take off for Guatemala.
According to the airport's statement posted on social media, the man “posed on a wing and re-entered the cabin without causing any harm to anyone… or the aircraft.”
Due to international security regulations, the man was “made available to the authorities,” the airport said.
USA TODAY has reached out to Aeromexico.
“Without ventilation and without water”
According to one post are circulating on social mediaPassengers on board said they were stuck on the tarmac for hours without adequate ventilation or water during a flight delay.
“The delay and lack of air created conditions that endangered the health of passengers. He saved our lives,” passengers wrote in a letter translated from Spanish.
“The emergency exit was opened out of desperation after we were trapped for almost four hours with no ventilation and no water,” one person who claimed to be on board wrote in a caption on X with a handwritten photo of a letter signed by her passengers .
The same passenger wrote that the plane's doors were closed, the passengers were “without information” and there were “older ladies on the verge of fainting.”
According to an incident report provided to airport officials, the Associated Press reported that the passengers “were unhappy and one of them opened the emergency door and climbed onto the wing. This incident required a change of aircraft.”
At least 77 passengers aboard flight AM672, the AP reported, signed the statement circulating online.
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Contribution: The Associated Press
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.