'Our holiday terror as passenger tried to open plane doors at 36,000ft screaming We are just on a flight simulator'

• 22-year-old man had to be tied up with eight seatbelts
• Newcastle-bound plane forced into emergency landing at Gatwick
• 'There were a lot of kids on the plane screaming their heads off'

By Sara Nelson for MailOnline
Updated: 21:29 EDT, 15 September 2011

A passenger tried to open a plane door at 36,000ft claiming it did not matter because he was ‘on a flight simulator’.

The 22-year-old man had to  be wrestled to the ground by  air hostesses and fellow passengers before being tied down  with seatbelts.

The flight from Majorca to  Newcastle then made an  emergency landing at Gatwick so he could be arrested.

The drama unfolded as the 22-year-old man attempted to open the emergency doors of the Thomson flight at 36,000ft (file picture)

A 28-year-old passenger, who did not want to be named, said: ‘It was dark but suddenly all the lights came on and all the air hostesses were shouting and we could see a man trying to open the emergency door.

'The plane started shaking. I thought it was going to go down.

‘His friends tried to pull him away from the door and he started punching them and saying 'It’s OK we are just on a simulator.'

‘Then another man came from nowhere and smacked him in the head.’

The mid-air drama started about 45 minutes into the early morning Thomson flight TOM1269 from Palma Airport on Wednesday.

Lights in the cabin were  dimmed and most passengers were sleeping or eating breakfast when cabin crew rushed to deal with the incident.

Shaken: The McCallum family from Billingham, Teesside, told of their mid-flight terror, as a crazed passenger on their Thomson flight from Palma, Mallorca to Newcastle, tried to open the plane's door at 36,000ft

With help from other passengers the air hostesses managed to restrain the passenger and wrestle him into a seat. They then used around eight seatbelts to tie him up.

Children were crying and passengers were panicking as the plane made its sudden descent.

The passenger continued: ‘The plane went down really quickly, it was quite a dodgy landing. All our ears were popping. Then as soon  as it came to a stop about six  police officers ran on board and arrested him.’

After police took statements from passengers and the plane was  refuelled, the holidaymakers were able to continue their return journey to Newcastle.

Dan Alberts, 20, from Bensham, Gateshead, who was on the flight with a group of friends, said he heard one air hostess shout to the man that he could have killed everyone on board. 

The incident occurred on a Newcastle-bound flight which left from Palma, Majorca (pictured), yesterday morning. The pilot made an emergency landing at Gatwick Airport

He said: ‘We just heard a big  bang and then he started going  for the door. One of the girls I  was with started having a panic attack and there were quite a few people crying.

‘There were a lot of kids on the plane screaming their heads off.’

Gavin McCallum, from Billingham, Teesside, was on the flight with his wife Sarah, 30, and children Freya, three, and Jack, two.

The 35-year-old said: ‘It was  terrifying. We didn’t know that  he had tried to open the door until we landed and I’m quite grateful for that.

‘When we were on the ground and realised what had happened it was quite disturbing.

‘The cabin crew were fantastic. The pilot told me he had been flying for 20 years and that is the only time anything like that has happened.’

The man, of Ashington, Northumberland, was questioned by police on suspicion of endangering the safety of an aircraft. He was bailed pending further enquiries.

A spokesman for Thomson Airways said: ‘We would like to reassure customers that it would not have been possible for this passenger to open the aircraft door while the aircraft was in the air.

‘We would also like to reassure our customers that incidents of this type are extremely rare.’