Plane in emergency landing... man tries to open exit door

A Virgin America flight travelling from Boston to Los Angeles made an emergency landing in Nebraska on Monday, officials said.

The Federal Aviation Administration said the Virgin America flight made the unscheduled landing Monday morning at Omaha's Eppley Airfield following a medical emergency on board.

The agency didn't provide additional details, but passengers say a man had tried to open an emergency exit door.

The US Attorney's Office told KETV in Omaha that a passenger was taken to the hospital for observation.

Sam Slater, a Los Angeles film producer who videotaped police officers boarding the plane in Omaha and taking a man away in handcuffs, said the passenger was wearing a hospital bracelet and sat behind him on the plane.

"He asked if he could use the restroom. He'd been mumbling about not wanting to be violent," Slater told KCAL-TV.

Slater's business partner, Paul Bernon, said the man returned from the bathroom and began arguing with a woman sitting next to him and tried to tell an attendant that he wanted her to move.

A doctor examined the passenger, who was taken to a back row of seats that had been cleared for him.

"He, at that point, was fidgeting and began to remove the plastic covering from the emergency exit door and tried to pull to open the door," Slater said.

"Fortunately there were a couple of Boston police officers on the flight that were there at that point to help as well."

Among other projects, Slater and Bernon produced the 2013 movie 'Drinking Buddies'.

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