Passenger Opens Door On Taxing JetBlue Plane 'Suddenly And Without Warning'

Fellow passengers panicked after a man on a JetBlue plane opened an exit door as the plane taxied for takeoff at Boston Logan International Airport.

It happened around 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to Massachusetts State Police.

The passenger was on Flight 151 as it was getting ready to take off for San Juan, Puerto Rico. He "suddenly and without warning" got up and opened the door, the Massachusetts State Police said in a statement obtained by the Associated Press.

The emergency slide deployed as the door opened.

The pilot declared a mayday in air traffic control audio obtained by WFXT-TV.

"We have a passenger who opened an emergency exit door and tried to jump out of the airplane," the pilot told controllers.

The passenger was expected to be arraigned on Wednesday, according to State Police spokesperson Tim McGuirk. The passenger's name was not released.

The door was opened about 7:30 p.m. "suddenly and without warning," McGuirk said.

Some passengers reportedly panicked during the incident.

"They were like freaking out," passenger Fred Wynn told WCVB-TV. "They were like, 'Stop, stop'!"

Wynn said the man was seated behind him and was arguing with his girlfriend over the phone before getting up and running down the aisle to the door.

Passengers quickly restrained him and no injuries were reported.

JetBlue said the passengers were eventually put on another aircraft and made it safely to San Juan.

The incident took place a day after maintenance crews discovered the dead bodies of two stowaways inside the wheel well of a JetBlue Airways aircraft at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.