MINNEAPOLIS — A passenger on a Sun Country Airlines flight jumped out of the plane's emergency exit door after arriving at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Sunday night.
According to a statement from Sun Country, the flight from Orlando, Florida had arrived at the gate when a passenger in the exit row opened the emergency door and left the plane. According to FlightAware, the aircraft reached the Terminal 2 gate around 11 p.m.
A Minneapolis-Saint Paul Metropolitan Airports Commission representative said the passenger, a 44-year-old man from New Brighton, Minnesota, jumped onto the airfield as passengers were deboarding.
MSP Airport Police were waiting for the passenger when the plane arrived, and according to MAC, officers were there to arrest the man for violating a restraining order. He also has outstanding warrants out of Wright Country.
The man was also charged with felony domestic assault in Ramsey County in June.
According to the criminal complaint, he poured diesel fuel on the mother of his children and assaulted her. Court records show he was arrested and released a few days later after he posted a $50,000 bond.
In the most recent incident at MSP, the man was arrested around 11:40 p.m., about 30 minutes after he jumped out of the plane onto the airfield. A short time later, authorities said they found him inside an airline food service truck.
"Fortunately, passengers and crew are fine," Sun Country said in a statement.
Jason Wallis is the president of the Airport Law Enforcement Agencies Network.
He says there are "a lot of security incidents" that happen on airplanes, and it's becoming a concerning issue.
According to the FAA, nearly 6,000 cases of unruly behavior were reported nationwide in 2021, a new record. The FAA says a majority of those cases involved disputes over face masks during the pandemic.
The number of unruly incidents dropped to about 2,400 in 2022, and so far this year, 890 cases have been reported. Wallis says while this year's number is on track to be lower, it's still higher than pre-pandemic levels.
"I do see it moving in a positive direction, so we will have to see where the statistics end up at the end of the calendar year,” Wallis explains.
According to the FAA, your odds of encountering unlawful and unruly behavior on an airplane are still low. The agency says there are about 1.6 incidents for every 10,000 flights.
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