Passenger Leaves AA Boeing 737 MAX Through Overwing Exit

In a curious sequence of events, police in Miami detained an American Airlines passenger earlier this week after they left an aircraft through its overwing exit. The incident took place on September 29th, and involved a Boeing 737 MAX that had arrived from Colombia.

The flight in question

American Airlines flight AA920 is a daily scheduled service that originates in Cali, Colombia. The flight from Alfonso Bonilla Aragón International (CLO), which is Colombia’s fourth-busiest and third-largest airport, is scheduled to depart at 14:40 local time.

The flight’s destination is Miami International Airport (MIA) in Florida. This is a key international destination from Cali, with Avianca also plying the route. Additionally, Spirit will begin services between Cali and Miami next month. With a scheduled duration of three hours and 55 minutes, flight AA920 is scheduled to arrive in Miami at 19:35 local time.

According to data from RadarBox.com, the flight departed Cali 10 minutes early on September 29th, at 14:30 local time. After three hours and 39 minutes in the air, it touched down in Miami 26 minutes early at 19:09. However, the flight then became rather eventful.

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Emergency exit escape

We are all well aware of the usual deplaning routine that takes us out of an aircraft’s front and/or rear doors upon arrival. However, one passenger onboard flight AA920 on September 29th, who Local 10 News has named as 33-year-old US citizen Christian Segura, had other ideas. Indeed, Fox News reports that he left the plane via its emergency exit.

Cell phone video shows the moments after passenger 33-year-old Christian Segura opens the emergency exit on an American Airlines flight and runs onto tarmac at Miami International Airport. The person you see on the wing is apparently looking for Segura. Segura is in jail. pic.twitter.com/q4A9fwgoUu

— Parker Branton (@ParkerBranton) September 30, 2021

Segura then walked along the wing of the aircraft as it arrived on stand. The incident occurred at 19:16, seven minutes after touchdown at MIA. Local 10 adds that police took him into custody after he jumped off the wing. He was first taken to hospital owing to high blood pressure, with a trip to jail following. American Airlines has issued the following statement:

“During deplaning in Miami, a customer on American Airlines flight 920 from Cali, Colombia to MIA exited the aircraft via an emergency exit. The customer was immediately detained by law enforcement. We thank our team members and law enforcement for their professionalism and quick action.”

The aircraft involved

The aircraft from which Mr Segura made his unlikely exit was a Boeing 737 MAX 8 that bears the registration N338RS. According to data from ch-aviation.com, this is one of 41 MAX 8s in American‘s fleet. The Fort Worth-based US legacy carrier and oneworld founding member also has a further 59 examples of this next-generation narrowbody on order.

N338RS is 2.97 years old, making it slightly older than average (2.7 years old) for an American Airlines MAX 8. American ordered it in February 2013, and it first flew on October 12th, 2018. By the end of the month, Boeing had delivered it to American.

The aircraft sports a three-class, 172-seat configuration. 126 of these make up its standard ‘Main Cabin economy section, with a further 30 offering more legroom in ‘Main Cabin Extra.’ The front four rows of the aircraft consist of 16 first class recliners in a 2-2 layout. The incident hasn’t affected its airworthiness, and N338RS remains in service two days later.

What do you make of this incident? Have you ever witnessed such a situation occur? Let us know your thoughts and experiences in the comments.

Source: https://simpleflying.com/aa-737-max-overwing-exit-escape/