By Ivan Kovankkov
A female passenger, identified as Elom Agbegninou, was detained and arrested after allegedly attempting to open the side door of her plane at 11,000 feet.
According to reports, the 34-year-old pushed a flight attendant past and made desperate attempts to open the side door. Fortunately, she was stopped by a passenger.
The incident occurred as Southwest Flight 192 was en route from Houston, Texas, to Columbus, Ohio.
Elom Agbegninou
After the pilots diverted the plane and made an emergency landing at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Arkansas, the woman was handed over to federal agents.
Court documents released Monday by the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas show that Agbegninou repeated the sentences “Jesus told her to fly to Ohio and Jesus told her to open the airplane door” as he tried to open the door.
According to the documents, she hit her head on the plane and repeated the words “Jesus told her to fly to Ohio and Jesus told her to open the plane door” until she was wrestled to the ground by a passenger and pinned down.
It all started after she got up from her chair, walked back to the back of the door, and just stared at the exit door for several minutes. When flight attendants asked her to go to the bathroom or go back to her seat, she refused and started looking out the window.
Shortly afterwards, the 34-year-old tried to open the exit door after being pushed past the servants.
“They rushed to the back of the plane to help. I was thinking worst case, probably that plane will crash, but I know the odds are very slim,” a passenger told Fox News.
The person who tried to restrain her was repeatedly bitten in the thigh, according to court documents.
After her arrest, she told officers she was traveling to Maryland to meet with a pastor. Interestingly, she had no luggage with her.
