Passenger Stops Man Trying to Open Plane Door Mid-Landing

A thriller writer helped stop a passenger from opening an emergency exit during a flight's descent. The incident occurred on a Ryanair flight landing at London Stansted in September 2024. Passengers began shouting as a large, powerfully built man headed for an exit door. He lunged for the handle while screaming. Another passenger climbing over seats shouted that the man was having a mental health episode, not a terrorist attack. The author, returning from a literary festival, acted. While exit doors cannot be opened at full altitude due to cabin pressure, that pressure drops during landing. Opening the door then could make the plane hard to control. The writer intervened to prevent the man from opening the exit. The plane landed safely.