An American Airlines passenger has been charged after allegedly opening a plane’s door mid-flight.

On 18 July, 2024, American Airlines flight 2101 set off from Seattle, Washington for Dallas, Texas. However, it was forced to divert and land at Salt Lake City International Airport after an incident occurred onboard involving a 26-year-old passenger.

Eric Nicholas Gapco from Delanco, New Jersey, is reported as having ‘assaulted and intimidated a flight attendant and aircraft crew members’ while onboard the aircraft, The United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah’s press release states.

The release alleges Gapco ‘failed to follow instructions to remain in his seat, propositioned a flight attendant for sex, was repeatedly loud, vaped, bothered other passengers, locked himself in the lavatory, and attempted to open the aircraft exterior doors multiple times while the aircraft was in flight’.

The incident took place on an American Airlines flight. (MI News/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

As a result, the passenger was ‘restrained by flight crew members and other passengers’ with ‘flexible restraints’ used on his feet and hands for the remainder of the flight.

When the plane landed at Salt Lake City International Airport, Gapco was arrested by law enforcement officials.

Prosecutors claim Gapco allegedly also tried to hand another passenger onboard the flight a bag of pills – the identity of which has not been stated, as reported by The Post.

Court documents also allege Gapco told his arresting officer he ate ‘approximately 10 marijuana edibles’.

The investigation is being investigated by FBI Salt Lake City Field Office and Salt Lake City Police Department.

Gapco has been ‘charged with interference with a flight crew, and attempted damage to an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States’.

He is expected to appear in court at the United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City on 1 August.

The man was arrested when the plane landed at Salt Lake City International Airport. (Jeffrey Greenberg/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)

A spokesperson for American Airlines told UNILAD: “On July 18, American Airlines flight 2101 with service from Seattle (SEA) to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) diverted to Salt Lake City (SLC) due to a disruptive customer.

“The aircraft was met by law enforcement upon arrival at SLC. The safety and security of our customers and team members is our top priority. We thank our team members for their professionalism and our customers for their understanding.”

It’s not the first time an airplane passenger has had to be restrained after allegedly trying to open the door on an American Airlines flight either.

Earlier this year in February, a flight headed to Chicago was forced to turn around after a passenger allegedly tried to open one of the aircraft’s doors mid-flight, prompting other passengers to have to ‘wrestle’ him to the ground and duct-tape him to his chair for the rest of the flight time.

Other passengers spoke out about the incident on social media, one calling it ‘one of the scariest days’ of their ‘life’.

A cargo plane has made its first successful trip without a pilot or any other crew on board, creating a ‘monumental aviation achievement’.

On 21 November, a Cessna 208B Caravan plane took off from Hollister Municipal Airport in San Benito County, California.

While over 150 flights typically take off from the airport every day, as per AirNav.com, this one was special as the cargo plane had no pilot on board. Prepare for take off:

The total flight time came in at around 12 minutes, with the plane doing a circle in the air and then returning to the airport.

The plane was designed and manufactured by Textron Aviation Inc, which worked in collaboration with the aircraft automation company Reliable Robotics who announced the ‘significant milestone’ earlier this week on Wednesday (6 December) calling it ‘a first for aviation’.

Reliable Robots has also been working on remote piloting alongside the US Air Force since 2021 and is a member of global aviation services company ASL Aviation Holdings’s CargoVision forum, which looks into new aviation technologies.

While no pilot was physically on board the flight, a remote pilot was on hand to supervise from ‘Reliable’s control center 50 miles away,’ the company states via a Business Wire press release.

Reliable Robotics CEO Robert Rose told the San Francisco Chronicle that, to his knowledge, the successful un-piloted flight of the cargo plane is the first of its kind for a private company – the military already using unmanned aircraft systems.

But why is the idea of having a non-piloted cargo plane so important?

YouTube/ Reliable Robotics

Well, Reliable Robotics explains such an aircraft ‘improves safety’ by ‘fully automating the aircraft through all phases of operation including taxi, takeoff and landing’.

It continues: “Reliable’s system is aircraft agnostic and utilizes multiple layers of redundancy and advanced navigation technology to achieve the levels of integrity and reliability necessary for uncrewed flight.

“The system will prevent controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) and loss of control in flight (LOC-I), which account for the majority of fatal aviation accidents.”

It also adds: “The Caravan, and other regional cargo aircraft like it, serve an essential role connecting communities and businesses across the United States and around the globe. With a useful load of over 3,000 pounds, and a take-off performance to operate from shorter runways, these aircraft deliver time-sensitive shipments to many places that would otherwise not have next-day or same-day service. Remote piloting will allow even more areas to benefit from this critical service.”

YouTube/ Reliable Robotics

Senior Vice President of Engineering and Programs, Textron Aviation, Chris Hearne, said as per Business Wire: “Textron Aviation is committed to delivering continuous aviation improvements and our relationship with Reliable Robotics advances this work.

“Reliable’s successful flight of an uncrewed Cessna 208 Caravan represents a milestone for the industry in bringing new technology to aviation.”

AFWERX Director and Chief Commercialization Officer for the Department of the Air Force, Colonel Elliott Leigh said, as per Fox Business: “This monumental aviation achievement is a great example of how AFWERX accelerates agile and affordable capability transitions for the world’s greatest Air Force.

“This milestone accelerates dual-use un-crewed flight opportunities, increasing aviation safety and enabling us to bring a broad range of autonomous military capabilities into denied environments.”

Some Guinness World Records are pretty bizarre but perhaps none are more terrifying than that held by Vesna Vulović – the highest fall survived without a parachute.

Vesna was just 23 years old and working as a flight attendant at the time of the ordeal.

To make her story even more unbelievable, she wasn’t even supposed to be on the plane that ended up plummeting out of the sky.

The airline confused Vesna with another flight attendant of the same name, meaning she ended up being rostered with the crew manning the ill-fated flight.

She was the only one of the 28 passengers and crew members to survive.

Vesna told security training firm Green Light Limited in 2002: “My colleagues had a feeling that something would happen to them. The captain was locked in his room for 24 hours. He didn’t want to go out at all.”

On 26 January 1972, Vesna boarded JAT Yugoslav Airlines Flight 367 in Copenhagen, Denmark heading to Belgrade, Serbia.

The plane exploded over Srbská Kamenice, a small village in the Czech Republic (previously known as Czechoslovakia).

While other passengers were reportedly sucked out of the plane by the change in air pressure, Vesna found herself jammed in place by the food cart, trapped in the plane’s broken fuselage as it hurtled 33,333 feet to the ground.

Wikipedia Commons

Vesna sustained heavy injuries from the mind-blowing fall, including a fractured skull, broken vertebrae and legs, several broken ribs and a fractured pelvis, but she miraculously survived.

Physicians later determined that her low pressure meant she passed out quickly as the cabin depressurised. This saved her heart from exploding when the plane hit the ground.

The plane crashed into a wooded area with thick snow which also helped save Vesna’s life.

She was found screaming inside the wreckage by former World War Two medic, Bruno Honke, who was able to provide her with life-saving first aid. She had no memory of the incident.

Vesna fell into a coma for several days following the crash and had amnesia from one hour before the incident until one month after.

Speaking to Green Light, she said: “The first thing I remember is seeing my parents in the hospital.

Bruce Bennett/Getty Images

“I was talking to them asking them why they were with me in Slovenia. I thought I was in Slovenia because I was just in Ljubljana before going to Copenhagen.”

Vesna was temporarily paralysed from the waist down, but was able to walk again after 10 months.

As for the cause of the plane crash, it is believed a bomb in a suitcase exploded in the baggage compartment. No arrests were ever made, but Croatian terrorist group the Ustashe were suspected to be behind the attack.

Vesna died in 2016 at the age of 66. When asked if she felt she was lucky to have survived the 33,000 feet fall, she said: “If I were lucky, I would never had this accident, and my mother and father would be alive.

“The accident ruined their lives, too. Maybe I was born in the wrong place. Maybe it was a bad place.”

If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677.

A flight had to be cut short after an ‘unusual smell’ in the cabin, which resulted in a member of the cabin crew being taken to hospital.

We’ve heard some unsettling travel stories in recent months, including the plane that flew for nine hours but landed back at its original destination.

It’s safe to say passengers won’t be forgetting this recent Qantas flight from Australia to New Zealand anytime soon.

The Boeing 737 took off from Sydney Airport at 6.45pm on Wednesday evening (October 2) as scheduled.

The flight to Wellington International Airport usually takes around three hours and 15 minutes. But around an hour into the journey, cabin crew and the plane’s pilot noticed a poignant odor and the aircraft was turned around.

The plane (not pictured) was forced to turn around after an hour in the air (Morgan Hancock/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

The plane landed back at Sydney Airport just after 9pm.

A Qantas spokesperson told The Australian the pilot called for a ‘priority landing’ – not an ’emergency landing’.

On landing, a cabin crew member was whisked away to hospital for ‘a precautionary medical examination’.

An engineering assessment was able to find the source of the smell.

Turns out a product used while fixing a part in the galley area during routine maintenance caused the disruption.

The Qantas spokesperson explained: “The aircraft landed safely and will be checked by engineers before returning to service.”

Passengers were given accommodation and booked onto the next available flight.

The plane took off from Sydney Airport before landing back again (James D. Morgan/Getty Images)

The spokesperson added: “We apologise for the disruption to their journey and thank them for their understanding.”

The plane had reportedly completed two flights on Wednesday before the incident, as per 7NEWS.

It had flown from Wellington to Sydney and as well as a return trip to Norfolk Island – a tiny Australian island in the South Pacific Ocean located between Australia and New Zealand.

The aircraft in question has since returned to usual service.

UNILAD has contacted Qantas for further comment.

Elsewhere, a flight in Europe recently had to be evacuated after cabin crew observed ‘fumes’ outside of the aircraft.

On Thursday (October 3), Ryanair flight FR8826 was set to take-off from Brindisi airport in Italy when passengers were forced to evacuate.

Footage has since emerged on social media of the Boeing 737-8AS aircraft (9H-QCB) with one of its engines in flames.

Ryanair said in a statement: “Flight FR8826 from Brindisi to Turin was delayed this morning after cabin crew observed fumes on the outside of the aircraft. Passengers were disembarked without incident and returned to the terminal by bus.”