Passenger tries to open plane door mid-flight, claims Jesus told her to do it

Passenger tries to open plane door mid-flight, claims Jesus told her to do it

An unruly Southwest Airlines passenger, who tried to open the plane’s door mid-flight before biting another passenger, has blamed Jesus for her actions.

The flight was heading from Houston to Columbus on the weekend when it had to make an emergency landing in Little Rock, Arkansas due to a disturbance onboard.

A 34-year-old woman became frustrated when cabin crew would not let her get to the emergency exit. The woman bit another passenger on the thigh and when the crew tried to intervene she only relented once her jaw was pried open.

The victim has been given antibiotics in hospital and was suffering from PTSD from the incident.

“They were rushing to the back of the plane to help. I was thinking about the worst case, probably that plane will crash, but I know it’s a very low probability,” passenger Ding Yu told Fox 26.

The woman in question being escorted off the plane (Fox26)

The woman appeared in court yesterday but her lawyer argued the case could not proceed given her mental state, court documents reported.

The whole episode began when she wandered to the back of the plane and began staring at the exit door. A flight attendant asked her to use the bathroom or sit down and the woman asked if she could look out the window, according to a another flight attendant.

The woman was denied, at which point she pushed her way to the door and began pulling the door handle. After biting the passenger, she started smacking her head on the plane floor, claiming “Jesus told her to fly to Ohio and Jesus told her to open the door,” according to court documents.

She claimed she hadn’t flown in a while and this was the first time she had travelled without her husband and was “very anxious” during her episode and “would not normally have done these things.”

She is likely to face charges of assault and interference with plane crew.


Featured Image: Police escorting the woman off the plane (Fox26) 

Latest News

  • Partner Content

My journey: Before becoming a travel agent I was… a palliative care nurse 

Australind Travel & Cruise, Travellers Choice member Saibra Twigg reveals her life as paediatric nurse then to palliative care before a career leap to travel agent. How did you become a palliative care nurse?  ST I went straight from school in nursing and initially specialised in paediatrics, working at Perth’s Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. […]

Partner Content

by Travel Weekly

Travel Weekly
  • Destinations
  • News

APT Launches 2025 Asia Adventures

APT has launched its Asia Adventures for 2025, including new luxury holidays in India, Sri Lanka and Japan. Five new tours lead guests to the highlights of India, including a seven-night cruise along the rarely travelled Lower Ganges aboard the Ganges Voyager. Further south, Sri Lanka’s greatest destinations are revealed on a new 15-day Land […]

  • Cruise
  • Luxury
  • News

Seabourn announces Western Kimberley Traditional Owners as Godparents of Seabourn Pursuit

Seabourn has named Western Kimberley Traditional Owners, the Wunambal Gaambera, as Godparents of the ultra-luxury purpose-built Seabourn Pursuit. It is the first cruise line to appoint Traditional Owners as godparents of a ship. Seabourn Pursuit embarks on its inaugural season in the Kimberley region this June. The naming ceremony will take place on Seabourn Pursuit’s […]