A Collingwood man was removed from an airplane on a Texas tarmac by wheelchair, his arms and legs bound in duct tape, following an intense mid-flight scuffle that ended in passengers pinning him to the ground and keeping him there while the plane landed.
According to incident reports from the Dallas Fort Worth International Airport Department of Public Safety, Abdul-Al-Jabbar Oloruntoba Olaiya, whose current address is listed in Collingwood, Ont., attempted to open the emergency exit mid-flight, shouting that he was the "captain" and he was getting off the plane.
The American Airlines flight 1915 was in the last leg of its journey from Milwaukee to Dallas Fort Worth airport on Nov. 19, when Olaiya allegedly stood up and walked toward a flight attendant.
Police interviews conducted for the incident report indicate the flight attendant thought the man was going to the lavatory to throw a cup in the garbage, but he stopped, complimented her watch and face mask, and things escalated from there quickly.
Olaiya, who was in first class, told the flight attendant he was the "captain" and wanted and needed to exit the aircraft immediately, states the incident report, which notes Olaiya's voice got louder and more agitated quickly.
The flight attendant diverted Olaiya's attention to her colleague and used the distraction to make a phone call to her other colleagues asking for help.
She also subtly gestured to passengers to help her, then she slipped between a shouting Olaiya and the emergency exit just before he jumped toward it, and on top of the flight attendant.
The flight attendant said she "was hit hard and braced her arms out sideways blocking the ... door," wrote the officer in the incident report.
Almost immediately, another passenger stepped in, bear-hugging the unruly man to keep him from getting to the exit door.
More passengers stepped in to help, calling for zip ties to restrain the man. A flight attendant handed them a roll of duct tape and they bound his arms behind his back, his legs and his ankles.
Passengers kept him pinned down on the airplane floor for the rest of the flight.
When the plane landed, there were six FBI agents and eight police officers ready to board. The plane landed at 10:06 a.m. and the officer who filed the report noted he observed Olaiya lying on his stomach, his hands bound in duct tape behind his back and a male passenger kneeling on his lower legs. Olaiya's ankles were also duct-taped.
One flight attendant told police her left wrist and neck was injured when the man jumped on top of her to try to open the emergency doors. She was taken away from the scene by paramedics.
Police took Olaiya off the plane in a wheelchair and he was detained pending a mental evaluation.
The details of the incident were contained in a police report based on interviews with witnesses and have not been tested in court.
