Frontier Airlines passenger reportedly tries to open door and leap out mid-flight, former MMA pro steps in to restrain him

A Frontier Airlines flight from San Juan, Puerto Rico to Chicago O’Hare erupted into chaos on Sunday when a passenger attempted to exit the plane mid-flight, access the cockpit, and attacked staff!

The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s police identified the unruly passenger as 51-year-old Juan Reyes and said that mid-flight he announced to the passengers and crew that wanted to get off the plane. He then headed to an exit door and began yanking at the lever.

Flight attendants tried to make him return to his seat, but he instead headed to the front of the plane where he made a failed attempt to gain access to the cockpit. Reyes was brought back to a seat, but later attacked a male flight attendant by choking him.

At this point the other passengers intervened. Chicago resident John Longood, a former professional MMA fighter and Brazilian jujitsu black belt stepped up and, with the help of others on board, forcibly restrained Reyes.

In comments to CBS News, Longood explained: “I just didn’t want anyone to get hurt. So, you know, it was my duty to do that… I could tell he was heavily intoxicated, and who knows what else.”

WATCH: Passengers restrain a man onboard a Frontier Airlines flight to Chicago's O'Hare on Sunday after he reportedly tried to open an emergency exit door in an attempt to jump off the plane mid-flight.

According to the Federal Aviation Administration, Frontier Airlines flight… pic.twitter.com/g3QBearixJ

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“It was like holding a kid down throwing a tantrum.”

Longood explained how he used his MMA skills to prevent Reyes from causing any more chaos:

“I just grabbed him, restrained him as safely as possible, kind of just really put him in his row, and laid him down, kind of framed against him, controlled his hands and his feet. It was like holding a kid down throwing a tantrum. I kind of tied his legs up with my legs and controlled his hands.”

Longood even tried to calm Reyes down: “I was joking with him. I was like, ‘We are going to be best friends after this, bro” and underlined that he’d absolutely do the same thing again if necessary: “Absolutely. I know I’m capable of doing something like that. I know that I can do that and help people be safe.”

After Reyes was restrained the flight was diverted to Miami on the grounds of a “passenger disturbance”, where the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s police arrested Reyes. He was subsequently charged with one misdemeanor count of battery and may face FAA fines of more than $40,000.

Incidentally, CBS News’ aviation expert Robert Sumwalt says that if this story has made you paranoid about a passenger successfully opening the plane door midflight you shouldn’t be overly worried, as it’s “physically impossible” to open an emergency exit at cruising altitude:

“We all know that airplanes are pressurized, and because of the pressure inside of the airplane itself, it is pushing against the doors and the windows and the latching mechanisms to make it physically impossible to open the door or a window in flight.”