Barstool Sports star @DonnieDoesWorld was about to doze off on a flight out of Albuquerque after a combination of Panda Express and tequila when there was a commotion several rows back.
Donnie, who’s real name is Zach Etkind, makes surreal and comical travel videos for Barstool from all corners of the planet, explained on the “Macrodosing” podcast this week that he was part of a group of passengers who subdued a man that was trying to wrest open the emergency hatch mid-flight.
“So this is about 20 minutes into the flight. I’d just crushed some Panda Express and a tequila soda. I was watching a movie about to dose off, when I heard people yelling in the back,” he recalled, specifying that the movie was “The Marvels”.
a man who tried to open the emergency exit door on a flight. X / Donnie Does World
“I just maybe people were fighting. I turn around and there’s one dude trying to open the plane door, and the other guy sitting next to him trying to rip him off the door.
“I hopped right out. I got right over there. I was probably the third person on the scene trying to get him off the door.”
Donnie revealed that the passenger was ultimately subdued.
“He was being very aggressive up until the point where we got his hands off the door,” Donnie added.
“Then he wasn’t fighting back too much, but we still had to corral him, so we kind of got him into the aisle where I just sat on him.”
There was some confusion about what to do once they got the man away from the door.
“There were still no flight attendants; we were like, ‘What should we do?’ So I was sitting on his back, someone elese was on his arms, and then the flight attendant brought over some duct tape,” Donnie said.
“They taped up his legs, then they got these things called flexi cuffs — plastic handcuffs — we got those around his arms, and then three of the people carried him to the back of the plane, where there was an empty row, and just plopped him down there.”
The flight, which had been supposed to head to Chicago, returned to Albuquerque.
who was trying to open the emergency exit door on a flight. X / Donnie Does World
According to the Associated Press, neither the FBI nor Albiquerque police have released any information on the detained suspect.
“He was sitting at the emergency exit and he cracked open the window that was protecting the handle,” passenger Amanda Ritz told Albuquerque TV station KOAT. “He ripped down the handle where it exposed some of the emergency exit and all the wind came rushing down.”
“The guy was screaming ‘I want to get out’ when he was restrained,” Ritz added.
