He received a mile-high club-bing.
An unruly passenger was beaten to a pulp after attempting to open the emergency door on a flight from Brazil to Panama, as seen in a viral X video taking off online.
“A flight attendant started screaming, and another tried to hold him back, but couldn’t because he was too strong,” said photojournalist Cristiano Carvalho, 51, who recorded the chaotic scene.
The kerfuffle reportedly broke out Tuesday morning aboard a Copa Airlines flight CM204 from Brasilia to Panama City in Panama.
The flight had been going swimmingly until 30 minutes before landing when said flyer rushed to the back of the plane with a plastic knife from his food tray and attempted to take a flight attendant hostage with the goal of opening the plane door.
“He went past the back emergency door after the warning,” recalled Carvalho. “Then he started moving forward and trying to open it.”
That’s when passengers sprang to the rescue and fought the man to stop him from his apparent premature deplaning attempt.
Despite initially struggling due to the man’s strength, the sky-high samaritans eventually succeeded in restraining the airhead after beating him bloody.
“They beat him a lot until he almost lost consciousness,” Carvalho described.
Accompanying footage shows passengers holding the floundering flyer, whose face is visibly bloody, as crewmembers zip tie his wrists.
In a recent statement, Copa Airlines reps claimed after landing in Panama “the national security team entered the aircraft and removed the passenger, taking him to the judicial authorities.”
Subsequent photos taken after landing show authorities escorting the battered perp off the plane in handcuffs.
The airline has since praised both crewmembers and flyers for coming together to stop the mile-high hellion.
“The crew acted quickly and, with the assistance of some passengers, applied the necessary safety protocols to control the situation until landing in Panama,” the spokesperson said. “Thanks to the professionalism of the crew, the safety of the flight and passengers was protected.”
In a similar incident in August, an antsy passenger was arrested in Australia after he “ripped open” the emergency exit of a grounded aircraft and walked along its wing.
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