Man Attempts to Jump off Plane, Blames Mother's Day

Mom got you stressed?

Yesterday, a 34-year-old man aboard a Continental flight traveling from Houston to Chicago made an attempt to open the airplane door while the plane was miles above the ground. He was restrained, and the flight was diverted to Lambert-St. Louis International Airport.

The Chicago Tribune reports that the man claimed he was having a rough Mother's Day.

According to the report, the man ran down the aisle, knocking aside a flight attendant in the process. He reached for the boarding door handle in the front of the Boeing 737, announcing that he had to get off the plane. A U.S. Army veteran seated nearby was able to pounce on him and put him in a mixed-martial arts chokehold.

From the Trib:

"The guy was a bull," said Houston resident Tony Harris, a passenger who tackled the man as he gripped the door handle. Harris, 60, a U.S. Army veteran, said he took the man down and struggled with him on the floor before restraining him with plastic handcuffs from the flight crew.

Asked whether the man said why he was trying to get off the plane, Harris said: "He said he had a rough Mother's Day."

FBI officials suggested terrorism did not play a role in the incident, though they didn't say anything to vindicate Mom.

St. Louis politicos had hoped that added aircraft traffic at Lambert Airport would be the source of national headlines this week as the Missouri legislature gears up for a crucial vote on whether to establish the airport as a hub for Chinese cargo planes. This wasn't the national publicity they were expecting, we presume.