Off-duty cop is hailed a hero for stopping and subduing passenger who 'tried to open plane door and leap out' on a Southwest Airlines flight
- Flight 4519 was forced to make an emergency landing at Corpus Christi International Airport on Sunday afternoon
- Cleveland Independent School District officer Pamela Minchew subdued an unruly female passenger who tried to open the emergency exit door
- Of stopping the woman, Minchew said: 'I used my mommy voice ... I did command presence'
- The unidentified woman was seen earlier in the airport terminal yelling at passersby
An off-duty police officer is being hailed a hero after she subdued an unruly passenger Sunday aboard a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Houston.
Cleveland Independent School District officer Pamela Minchew was returning to Houston from a vacation in California with her 10-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son on Flight 4519.
Minchew said a woman, who has not been identified, appeared confused and disheveled as she boarded the plane departing from Los Angeles.
'As soon as the seat belt light went off she started walking back and forth throughout the plane, down the aisle, but she would walk backwards. I later found out that apparently she was passing notes to other passengers saying she needed help,' Minchew told KPRC.
She explained that Southwest employees moved the woman from an exit row seat to the back of the plane after noticing her erratic behavior.
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Hero: Cleveland Independent School District officer Pamela Minchew (above) is being hailed a hero after she subdued an unruly passenger Sunday aboard a Southwest Airlines flight bound for Houston
The disruptive female passenger was dragged off flight 4519 after she tried to open the emergency exit (pictured, left and right). The flight, en route from Los Angeles to Houston, was forced to make an emergency landing in Corpus Christi on Sunday
Flight 4519 was roughly an hour away from landing when the woman jumped over passengers and tried to open the emergency exit door.
'When I (saw) she had the clear-plastic (cover) in her hand, I just jumped up, self-identified and subdued her,' Minchew said.
'I did later find out that the door would not have opened in the air, but I did not know that while we were sitting there.
'She had to grab the handle, so she was not getting a hold of that handle.'
Minchew said when she sprang into action, all she could think about was her children and the other passengers aboard the plane.
'As my kids say, "I used my mommy voice,"' Minchew said. 'I did command presence.
In a video taken by passenger Kristy Gillentine, a fellow passenger told her that the woman was up against a wall (pictured) at the airport yelling at passersby about how 'the government was unfair to her and her family' and that they 'experimented on her and forced her to walk backwards'
'At that point, I'm assuming everyone heard me say, "I'm an officer," because everybody stayed calm.'
Flight 4519 made an emergency landing in Corpus Christi, Texas where the FBI removed the troubled woman from the plane.
When Minchew reboarded the final plane bound for Houston, passengers let out roaring cheers for her.
Neither the FBI or Southwest Airlines will identify the woman or discuss the investigation except to say she is not in federal custody.
The woman was seen earlier in the terminal yelling at other passengers and pacing up and down the plane before the dramatic event occurred.
Flight 4519 was delayed for two-and-a-half hours before finally touching down at Hobby Airport around 4pm.
A statement from Southwest Airlines reads: 'The safe operation of every flight is our highest priority and we expect the aircraft to depart shortly to complete the journey to Houston.'
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The pilot of flight 4519 bought Domino's pizza for the passengers (pictured) to apologize for the delay
Video taken by passenger Kristy Gillentine showed the woman being wheeled off the flight by police.
In another video she took, a fellow passenger told her that the woman was up against a wall in the airport terminal yelling at passersby about how 'the government was unfair to her and her family' and that they 'experimented on her and forced her to walk backwards'.
Gillentine later tweeted she was very concerned that the woman was allowed to board the flight.
In response to her tweet, Southwest tweeted that the airline was working to comply with directives.
Passengers who witnessed the incident were held aside for questioning, while others waited in the airport ate Domino's pizza provided by the pilot.
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