Spirit Airlines Flight Diverts After Passenger Tries To Exit Plane Mid-Air

Wednesday’s Spirit Airlines flight NK185 from Cleveland to Los Angeles diverted to Denver after a passenger tried to open the emergency exit door of the Airbus A320.

The plane was pressurized. The passenger was never going to succeed. But he was ‘unruly’ and several other passengers on the plane held him down and zip tied him. When the plane made it to Denver the man was “wheeled out on a gurney by paramedics.”

This has become de rigueur for Spirit Airlines flights in the pandemic era. They’ve seemingly had to go to great lengths to preserve their reputation for having the best customers. The only remarkable thing is that all the passengers onboard aren’t charged extra for the entertainment – or the stopover (plus an additional fee for failing to pay these charges online in advance).

About Gary Leff

Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel - a topic he has covered since 2002. Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »

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Comments

  1. Did the plane divert to Denver or Detroit. You mention both cities in your text above.
    Details matter. Those are two different cities.
    Stop being so lazy and proofread for just a second before you rush to post.

  2. Spirit has stripped flying of whatever remaining dignity and respect it had. I would rather be on an NYC Subway train than a Spirit Airbus. Better behaved, more respectful crowd there.

  3. @Jason: Be a nicer person. I’ve reviewed documents and presentations a dozen times only to find a mistake once the client has eyes on it.

    Point out a mistake so it can be corrected. Saying “Stop being so lazy” to someone who posts dozens of stories a week is just plain rude.

  4. Were Americans. We don’t need to spend money on mental health (or roads and bridges).
    Get the next quarter’s numbers up!
    Sad

  5. @Ben – sorry, Ben. I understand your point and have certainly been there myself, but this happens ALL THE TIME on this web site. Never any proofreading, there’s always mistakes. I learn from my mistakes and constantly proofread and seek constructive criticism. Not this blogger. At a certain point you start to wonder if the writer cares about his credibility.

  6. @Jason – the same guy who has made mistakes of his own here. Nobody is forcing you to read the site. If you don’t like it leave. We don’t need your nastiness. Otherwise figure out what is causing you to be so unhappy and fix it.

  7. He is qualifying for a “stupid check” (aka SSI) the all-inclusive package includes a free apartment and monthly food allotment, subsidized cell and internet services, free healthcare, and so on…

  8. Gary’s Karen/Ken/Loser of the day story.
    Gary, do you subconsciously want to go out like this yourself?

  9. Everyone I know who flew on Spirit told me they will never do so again. YMMV.

    Hopefully the perp will receive a TSA lifetime ban from flying. And yet another example of how travel has changed post-9/11 – he is lucky the other passengers did not beat him senseless.

Comments are closed.