Get All Access for $5/mo

A Passenger On A Delta Flight Was Arrested For Using Plane's Emergency Slide The plane was on the runway before takeoff when the incident occurred.

By Gabrielle Bienasz

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

DANIEL SLIM / Contributor I Getty Images
Delta Boeing 737 MAX in Los Angeles in 2022.

A passenger was arrested Saturday after triggering a Delta plane's emergency slide and exiting down the chute, according to CNN. The flight was set to travel from Los Angeles to Seattle.

"The aircraft was holding to taxi for takeoff when the passenger exited the aircraft and was initially detained by Delta staff ahead of being arrested by local law enforcement," Delta said in a statement, per CBS.

"Customers are being re-accommodated on a new aircraft and we apologize for the inconvenience and delay in their travel plans," the carrier added.

The person arrested has not been identified.

The FAA is also investigating the slide incident, per CBS. Airport police in Los Angeles further said the incident happened around 10 a.m.

"Due to the circumstances, FBI has been notified," Los Angeles Airport Police Captain Karla Rodriguez said, per the outlet.

The incident is part of an ongoing trend of recent air travel-related bad behavior including violence against flight attendants.

The pandemic appears to have intensified matters. In 2021, the FAA investigated 1,081 airplane incidents, which was a 494% increase compared to the average number of incidents investigated in years previously.

There's also been a rash of "close calls," where airplanes have come in close range of each other.

The National Transportation Safety Board Chair (NTSB) Jennifer Homendy called a rise in safety incidents "concerning."

Gabrielle Bienasz is a staff writer at Entrepreneur. She previously worked at Insider and Inc. Magazine. 

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Side Hustle

The Side Hustle He Started in His College Apartment Turned Into a $70,000-a-Month Income Stream — Then Earned Nearly $2 Million Last Year

Kyle Morrand and his college roommates loved playing retro video games — and the pastime would help launch his career.

Business News

A Former Corporate Lawyer Now Makes Six Figures on YouTube — Here's How She Does It

Here are the secrets to starting and growing a successful YouTube channel, according to a YouTuber with millions of subscribers.

Business Ideas

63 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2024

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2024.

Growing a Business

How to Determine The Ideal Length of Your Marketing Emails Your Customers Will Actually Read

Wondering how long your marketing emails should be? Here's what consumers say — so you can send them exactly what they like.

Business News

Y Combinator Helped Launch Reddit, Airbnb and Dropbox. Here's What I Learned From Its Free Startup School.

The famed startup accelerator offers a free course on building a business — and answers five pressing questions for founders.