Deportees force open plane's door, slide down emergency chute, escape from airport

Three Algerian immigrants who had previously been deported from Italy – and who had been denied entry into the country again – took matters into their own hands by forcing open the emergency exit of a taxiing Alitalia plane, sliding down the emergency chutes and running away from Rome's Fiumicino Airport.

The men, who were all in their twenties, were three of eighteen Algerians who were on a flight from Algiers to Istanbul, with what was supposed to be a brief layover in Rome. But instead of continuing to the runway, the plane had to be grounded for a number of safety checks, the police were called and the passengers were reportedly transferred to another aircraft for the flight to Turkey.

An Alitalia spokesperson told The Local:

When the plane was taxiing, in the preliminary stages of approaching the runway, these people forced open a door and slid down the slides that were activated, and then they escaped.

Last December, a passenger on a China Eastern Airlines flight opened a door behind the right wing and attempted to slide down the emergency chute, all because he "wanted to get off the plane quicker." The flight had just landed at Sanya Phoenix International Airport in Southern China. The estimated cost of his stunt – including replacing the chute – was $16,000.

Back in Italy, the three Algerians have yet to be found.