Escapes Down Evacuation Slide, Detained For Questioning

The flight from Charlotte, NC to Dallas isn't very long, just a hair over two hours... but for one passenger onboard American Airlines Flight 1343 Tuesday, it apparently couldn't be over soon enough.

American spokesman Tim Smith told the Dallas Morning News the unnamed passenger apparently ran into First Class as the MD-82 taxied to the gate at Dallas Fort Worth International (DFW) after landing, just before 1 pm CST Tuesday, and opened the right front door. He slid down to the pavement on the emergency slide that deployed automatically when the door was opened.

Brian Murnahan, spokesman for DFW, said the passenger then ran towards the terminal -- where he was promptly detained, and hauled off by airport police for questioning and a likely psych evaluation. The man, whose name hasn't been released, wasn't injured.

As of Tuesday night, the man hadn't been charged with any crime... though he could face a slew of charges on the local, state and federal level. There's no indication what led the man to flee the airliner.

Smith said the airliner's slide was removed and replaced at DFW, and the airliner was returned to service. The airline spokesman also noted -- somewhat proudly -- that despite the ramp-side drama, Flight 1343 arrived to the gate on-time... which is fairly impressive when you think about it.

Either the plane managed to leave CLT early, made really good time in flight... or perhaps American has a healthy time margin built into that particular schedule?

FMI: www.aa.com