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- An Iberia flight was preparing to take off on Friday when a passenger opened an exit.
- Airlive.net reported the passenger hit a flight attendant and jumped onto the tarmac.
- Iberia confirmed the incident to Business Insider but didn’t comment further.
A passenger hit a flight attendant and opened an emergency exit before jumping onto the tarmac while their flight was preparing to take off.
The Airbus A320neo, operated by the Spanish airline Iberia, was about to fly from Paris Orly Airport to Madrid on Friday.
Airlive.net first reported the incident. An Iberia spokesperson confirmed the information in the report to Business Insider but didn’t comment further.
Airlive.net reported that the plane was about to turn onto the runway when passengers heard a loud sound.
In a video obtained by the outlet and seemingly filmed by another passenger, emergency vehicles are seen surrounding the A320neo.
Passengers deplaned after two hours and were sent to nearby hotels, Airlive.net reported.
Flight IB578 took off from Paris five hours later than scheduled, according to data from Flightradar24.
Aéroports de Paris, which administers Orly Airport, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.
In January, a similar incident occurred on a JetBlue flight that was about to take off from Boston. The Federal Aviation Administration said the plane was on a taxiway when a passenger opened an emergency exit, causing the slide to deploy.
Last August, a passenger in Australia opened an emergency exit when his plane had just arrived at the gate, getting out and walking along one of the jet’s wings.
In 2023, a Southwest Airlines passenger caused panic after jumping out of an emergency exit and running across the tarmac before attempting to steal a truck.
