Horror as crew and passengers forced to restrain man trying to open aircraft's door

By Tom Burnett, Maria Ortega, Foreign Content Specialist

The incident took place aboard a Copa Airlines flight (Image: Getty)

Passengers were left terrified after a man attempted to open the emergency door of a plane thousands of feet above the ground.

Flight CM204 of Copa Airlines, the national airline of Panama, was descending into Panama City when the passenger attempted to open the exit.

More than a hundred passengers were on board the flight, which was travelling from the Brazilian capital Brasilia on November 5.

According to the airline, the man started showing erratic and violent behaviour - causing alarm to the other passengers aboard the Boeing 737.

Video shared online shows crew and passengers restraining the man. 

Copa Airlines said its crew were trained to deal with situations like this and that other passengers had been kept informed of developments.

The aircraft landed safely at Panama's Tocumen International Airport, where the man was arrested by waiting police officers.

Security officials carried out an inspection of the plane and passengers to ensure the situation was completely under control.

The plane was able to land safely at Panama's Tocumen International Airport (Image: Getty)

It is unconfirmed whether the man was deliberately attempting to endanger the plane or whether he was suffering a health crisis.

Copa Airlines has provided no further details about the condition of the arrested passenger.

In an unrelated incident, last week,  armed police in Argentina stormed a plane bound for New York after a banging sound was heard, leading to concerns someone was trapped in the cargo hold.