Door of taxiing plane opened at Boston's Logan airport; passenger arrested
A Jet Blue passenger was arrested and is facing criminal charges after he attempted to open a plane door as it prepared for takeoff Tuesday night in Boston, according to a Massachusetts Port Authority spokesperson
The incident took place at Boston Logan International Airport on Jet Blue Flight 161 bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico, a spokesperson for the airline confirmed.
According to officials, a male passenger attempted to open an overwing exit door while the plane was taxiing and the emergency slide deployed, the spokesperson told Paste BN Wednesday morning.
The move caused an emergency slide to deploy, officials said.
"The individual remained on board the aircraft, officials said and Massachusetts State Police were called to the scene," the spokesperson said.
The flight was eventually swapped to another aircraft, the spokesperson said.
No injuries were reported, Crawley said.
According to FlightAware, a site that tracks flight paths, the incident caused the flight to be delayed for nearly three-and-a-half hours.
The flight was slated to take off about 6:50 p.m. but did not take off until just after 10:40 p.m., according to the site, and eventually landed just after 3 a.m. in Puerto Rico.
Person attempting to open plane door to be arraigned
The passenger was expected to be arraigned on charges Wednesday in East Boston District Court, according to CNN and local outlet WBTS-TV.
The identity of the passenger has not been released by authorities.
"We greatly appreciate our customers’ understanding as we worked to address this situation," the Jet Blue spokesperson said.
This story has been updated to add new information.
Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for Paste BN. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.