Passengers tackle a man on American Airlines who pulled the emergency door handle (video)

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Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/02/21/passengers-tackle-a-man-on-american-airlines-who-pulled-the-emergency-door-handle-video.html

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More and more common, it seems. I think I should increase my position in duct tape manufacturers.

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They generally determine it’s a mental health thing with these types of actions, right? Not malicious intent?

I’m trying to think of a way to prevent a person like this getting to the door, but all of my ideas interfere with making it easy to open for an actual emergency.

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Wise move. Even if it’s not getting used to restrain passengers, it will probably be useful for securing doors or repairing wings.

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Image of William Shatner screaming: There’s a wing-repairperson out on the wing!!!

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See? In that scenario, both of them could use some tape!

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The ultimate duct tape TV ad!!!

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Or that glue stuff where the guy hangs from his hard hat.

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A timeless classic!

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Alas, “a mental health thing” these days often seems to cover everything from a genuine issue to someone being angry or feeling offended. This makes it even harder for people who live with actual issues to be taken seriously and get the help they need, and lets a lot of people who had full control over their actions to be excused from responsibility for them.

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You’re completely correct. I’m not sure if there is a better term - if so, I’m happy to be educated.

I was talking about a genuine issue because looking at the video it doesn’t look like they’re simply angry that someone put their seat back.

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More and more common, but why? It feels like the world is going mad and humanity’s collective actions only ever get less relatable and comprehensible, degrading in an ever-declining spiral. It feels like the trend from “That was a bad idea” to “Why, WHY would anyone EVER do that?” has been steadily increasing over my entire lifetime.

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To be fair, who among us hasn’t tried to be the first person off an American flight?

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I also feel like this is happening more but I don’t have the hard data to support that. Is it actually true or is it just bc we see it often here?

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  • Introduction and expansion of 24/7 news, so we hear of lunacies more than before?
  • Proliferation of cellphones and therefore the chance of capturing these incidents?
  • Increase in population and therefore an increase in number of troublesome folk?
  • Ofttimes understandable non-neutral perceptions affecting the spectator?
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Can the emergency door be opened mid-flight? I would have thought there would be a safety mechanism that prevented the door from being opened when the plane is still in the air, much like the “Cooper Vane” mechanisms installed on 727s to prevent the kinds of hijackings Dan Cooper and others carried out in the early 70s.

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Mostly no, but at low enough elevation, yes:
https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/26/asia/south-korea-plane-door-opens-midair-intl-hnk/index.html

But either way, I’d probably not want to let him wear himself out trying.

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The first two, over my lifetime, sure. Cell phones, 24/7 news, Florida Man-type stories, even the internet for the most part, weren’t around when I was very young. But none of those things is new enough to impact the last 3/4 or so of my life. They’ve been around for decades now and yet the trend seems to keep going, so I don’t think it’s as simple as it being reported more.

The second two… maybe? I don’t claim to be neutral and I’m sure I can’t recognize all of my own biases. And the population on our overcrowded hell planet is part of what I find incomprehensible about humanity’s decisions. (I realize that in a lot of areas patriarchy and lack of birth control are factors so I’m not trying to victim-blame. But when having children is an entirely informed, voluntary decision a family makes, I don’t understand how people can look around and say “You know what Earth needs? More humans!” I’m probably in the minority there, and that’s a bias I do recognize, but the urge to reproduce is alien to me.)

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The FAA says that reports of actual incidents have gone up.

stress caused by the pandemic, and more people finding their snapping points,

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Hi! I intended my bullet points to be general to all and, as such, would include points not necessarily applicable to you. To that extent, maybe even the following could be added:

  • Psychologically detrimental effect of the current zeitgeist leading to greater incidences of aberrant behavior.

@jerwin there before me!

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