'Crew and staff where all in the back of the plane so nobody was looking out for our safety except Mr. New York,' a fellow passenger tweets about the actor.
- Jun 25, 2018
AceShowbiz - Michael Rapaport has been praised for stopping a man from opening an emergency door on a plane mid-flight.
The Atypical actor sprang into action on an American Airlines plane on Saturday morning, June 23, according to editors at TMZ, after an unnamed passenger had asked flight crew for directions to the bathroom about an hour into the flight.
After seeing that the man was attempting to open the emergency exit door, Rapaport and another passenger apprehended him, at which point flight crew stepped in.
The man explained he was confused, and after speaking with the crew members, he was able to return to his seat for the duration of the flight.
Fox Sports director Ted Kenney, who was also a passenger on the flight, took to Twitter soon after the experience and noted that Rapaport "just stopped a guy on our plane from opening (an) emergency door. No joke. Mr. New York jump right up and stopped it, no hesitation".
He also told his Twitter followers that the Deep Blue Sea star shot up out of his seat and rushed to the area between the bulkhead and the bathroom and yelled: "What the f**k are you doing?".
@MichaelRapaport just stopped a guy on our plane from opening emergency door. No joke. Mr New York jump right up and stopped it, no hesitation. Thanks Mike!!!
— Ted Kenney (@TedKenney3D) June 23, 2018
— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) June 23, 2018
"Mike continues yelling so I jump up and rush up to Michael as does some Big 3 players," Kenney wrote. "I get to the bulkhead and Michael has this guy by the collar and manhandling him away from the emergency exit door. Michael tells us he was trying to open the door. Crew and staff where all in the back of the plane so nobody was looking out for our safety except Mr. New York".
I see Michael shoot up out of his seat and rush to the area just between the bulkhead and the bathroom and yell "what the f%&* are you doing?" Mike continues yelling so I jump up and rush up to to Michael as does some Big 3 players.
— Ted Kenney (@TedKenney3D) June 23, 2018
Following the mid-flight altercation, Rapaport posted a video on Twitter explaining there had been an incident and credited basketball players Glen "Big Baby" Davis and Baron Davis, who were also on the flight, for helping him detain the passenger.
"We had an incident on the plane," the 48-year-old said. "We're waiting for the fire marshal to come. We had a f**king incident, for real".