By Stone Martindale Jul 19, 2008, 17:14 GMT
Some fast thinking soccer players from New England saved the day on a flight from Boston to Los Angeles.
American Airlines deals with mentally ill passenger, subsued by soccer team from New England EPA/Ulises Rodríguez
A deranged man stripped naked, then went to open the emergency exit door before being tackled by a group of New England Revolution players on board.
An American Airlines flight from Boston to Los Angeles was diverted to Oklahoma City on Friday after a passenger stripped, put his clothes back on and then tried to open an emergency exit door before being subdued by members of a Major League Soccer team on board, the FBI said.
"He was completely naked. I mean, he'd taken off his clothes, sleeping across the three seats," said passenger David Pease, who was sitting next to the man.
Members of the New England Revolution professional soccer team worked in tandem to subsue the mentally ill man.
"Craig Tornberg, our general manager, went over and said, 'You know, you should go back in there and put your clothes on.' And then the steward came over and forced him to go back in there to put his clothes back on, which he did," said Vice President of the New England Revolution Michael Burns.
Pease said that the man was "saying all types of things. Like, 'Well, I can't see you.'"
"Then he sat back down in his seat, and then about five or 10 minutes later, when he got up again, and it appeared as though he was going to the bathroom, but that's when he didn't and went for the emergency exit door," Burns said.
That's when the coach and two staff members of the Revolution subdued the man, KNBC's Kim Baldonado reported.
"I made some eye contact with Matt Reis, our goalkeeper, and Shalrie Joseph, our defensive midfielder, who are pretty tough guys, and said, 'Just wait for us, cause we might need you,'" said team general manager Craig Tornberg. "The adrenaline just kind of takes over at the point, and you just kind of pounce. You just react ... it's really anything that anybody would do at that point."
American Flight 725, a Boeing 757, then made a landing in Oklahoma City at 1:35 p.m. CDT and was back in the air an hour later on the way to Los Angeles, said Tim Smith, a spokesman for American Airlines.
The unidentified man was taken off the flight in Oklahoma City and was undergoing mental evaluation, Johnson said.
Burns added that the man was fairly emotional at times. "There were times he was crying. There were times he was kind of laughing. ...It was very strange," Burns said.
"He was pretty mild as far as a guy who was first, naked, and the secondly, running for the door to jump out," Tornberg said. "If he walked by you right now, you probably wouldn't notice, unless of course he was naked."
The team was flying to play Chivas USA as part of a Tournament on Sunday.
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