Man jumps from moving plane at LAX airport, injured

LAX security: The passenger triggered an emergency exit after failing to gain access to the plane's cockpit. Photo / AP

A passenger was taken to the hospital Friday night after jumping out of a moving plane at Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said.

United Express flight 5365, operated by SkyWest, was pulling away from a gate shortly after 7 pm when the man unsuccessfully tried to breach the cockpit, then managed to open the service door and jumped down the emergency slide onto the tarmac, according to the airport and SkyWest.

The man was taken into custody on the taxiway, treated for injuries that were not life-threatening and taken to the hospital, authorities said.

The twin-engine Embraer 175, which was headed to Salt Lake City, returned to its gate, the airport said.

It was still there hours later.

Nobody else aboard the plane was injured.

The FBI was investigating.

It was the second disruption at LAX in two days.

On Thursday, a driver ploughed through a chain-link fence at a FedEx cargo facility and went onto the airfield, crossing runways as police chased the car. Police said the driver was detained and no injuries were reported. Two runways were briefly closed.

Here’s the suspect vehicle. Looks like an older model Mazda 3…note the hood which appears to say SOS, possibly outlined in electrical tape? pic.twitter.com/G14gL8OxxX

— Desmond Shaw (@RoadSageLA) June 25, 2021

Fox News reported the incident resulted in a 10-car chase, resulting in a delay to a UK-bound flight carrying Prince Harry.

The intrusion onto the airfield was not believed to be connected to the Prince's presence.

During the "major security breach" caused half of the airport's runways to be temporarily closed, though "north runways continued operating normally."

- Associated Press