BOSTON — A man will face charges after officials say he opened the door of a plane departing Boston’s Logan Airport on Tuesday night, startling fellow passengers and triggering a large police response.
The man was on JetBlue flight 161 from Boston to San Juan when he allegedly opened an overwing exit while the plane was taxiing around 7:15 p.m., causing the emergency slide to deploy, according to an airline spokesperson.
The man in question wanted to deplane and opened the door without warning, Massachusetts State Police said. Other passengers restrained him until troopers arrived.
“I didn’t know what was going on until I saw him get up and I saw a bunch of commotion,” JetBlue passenger Fred Wynn told Boston 25 News. “I took my headphones off and I ran down the aisle after him.”
Video shared by another passenger on the aircraft showed the man being led off the plane by detectives.
“I wasn’t too scared...Other people were freaking out,” Wynn said.
Wynn added that he believes a disagreement over a cell phone may have sparked the incident.
“I talked to the passenger that was sitting with him, behind me, and he was telling me that they were fighting over a cell phone,” Wynn explained. The guy didn’t like what the girl had on the cell phone. I didn’t get into the details with him about what was on the cell phone and that’s what made him flip out.”
Boston 25 News obtained air traffic control audio of the incident:
Pilot: “Mayday! Mayday for JetBlue 161.”
ATC: “JetBlue 161 Boston. Tower, go ahead.”
Pilot: “Yeah, we have a passenger who opened an emergency exit door and tried to jump out of the airplane.”
ATC: “JetBlue 161. Roger. We’ll send someone out.”
Pilot: “Roger.”
The suspect will be arraigned in East Boston District Court on Wednesday. Their identity is being withheld pending the finalization of charges, according to state police.
No further information was immediately available.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
©2025 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/7QOJU3BNCJERBNKJC5LWTBYFLU.png)
