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Iberia flight IB 578 was on the runway and preparing for takeoff at Paris Orly Airport (ORY) on Friday, February 7th when a passenger attacked a flight attendant, opened an emergency exit, and jumped out of the aircraft onto the tarmac. The flight was bound for Adolfo Suárez Madrid–Barajas Airport (MAD) when the surprising incident unfolded.
As the plane was taxiing for departure, a male passenger approached the front of the aircraft and attempted to open an emergency exit door. A flight attendant intervened and was assaulted as they attempted to stop the man. This did not work and the emergency exit door was opened. The man then jumped out of the Airbus A320. The man’s actions ended up delaying the flight for 4.5 hours as emergency crews and police dealt with the situation.
Shocking incident! A passenger jumps during an Iberia flight 578 bound for Madrid, when the Iberia Airbus A320-251N plane was on the runway, about to take-off on Friday, 7 February at Paris' Orly airport (ORY).
When the plane was about to start the take-off maneuver, the young… pic.twitter.com/wKp138P9vS
— FL360aero (@fl360aero) February 9, 2025
The aircraft was taken out of service and a replacement plane was used to transport passengers to Madrid. No word has been released on the man or the flight attendant’s condition.
Anthony’s Take: It’s unknown why this passenger freaked out and thought he had to get off of the aircraft in such a dramatic fashion. Hopefully, the flight attendant who intervened is not too injured as a result of them just doing their job.
(Image Credits: FlightAware and Iberia.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
2 comments
That emergency exit looks an awful lot like the cargo door. I wonder how he got down there.
Stock Iberia A320 photo. The plane in question is in the X post, but the door is not visible.