Struggle Keeps Door Shut at 30,000 Feet
An American Airlines jet flying from Dallas to Tokyo landed here after a passenger tried to open one of the plane’s doors.
Flight 61 was more than 30,000 feet above Jackson Hole, Wyo., Thursday when a man identified as Steven Low tried to force a door open. The flight crew subdued him and turned him over the authorities when the plane landed, said Dick Thurston, an FBI spokesman in Seattle.
Asked about a motive, Thurston said, “I think it’s safe to say that his behavior was probably erratic.”
Low would have needed to know a numerical code to actually open the door of the MD-11, American officials told KING-TV. Even then, the difference in air pressure between interior and exterior would have kept the door from opening, officials said.
The jet was carrying 167 passengers and 19 crew members, the television station reported.
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