Passenger opens emergency door and slides down wing
A 17-year-old passenger has forced open an emergency exit door and jumped from an aeroplane onto the runway at San Francisco International Airport.
An airport official said that on Tuesday a Copa Airlines flight 208 from Panama City landed about 2.30pm local team, where the passenger proceeded to jump out the door and onto the wing as the plane was waiting to taxi to the gate.
The teenager, who is a US citizen, was not injured but immediately taken into police custody.
It is still not known why he jumped from the plane.
Witnesses described the panic that set in when the emergency door opened and sunlight streamed into the plane.
"The whole door goes off. I start to hear some screams," Maria Nauca, from Peru, told Fox affiliate KTVU.
"As soon as we landed, it popped open," Anielka Ruiz, another passenger, told the news station.
"We saw the light coming though because all the windows were closed – so the light came in and we're like, 'What happened?'"
Passenger Matt Crowder described the chaos on the plane to NBC affiliate KNTV, saying, "They were yelling, 'Tell the flight attendants. Relay the message back. The door's open. Someone jumped off,' " Crowder added. "It was pretty crazy."
Copa Airlines said in a statement a crew member closed the emergency door and the plane continued on to the gate, where the remaining passengers exited.