By Perry Green, AFRO Sports Editor, pgreen@afro.com
Actor/comedian Michael Rapaport and a couple of former NBA stars stopped a man from opening the emergency door of an American Airlines plane mid-flight.
According to Rapaport himself, the bizarre incident occurred during a Saturday morning flight from Houston to L.A., as Rapaport was returning from opening night for the BIG3 Basketball League, of which he serves as sideline reporter. Rapaport said he was napping in first class next to a few former NBA stars, who now play in the BIG3 League.
Michael Rapaport posted the above video on Twitter about his airplane heroics.(Twitter Photo)
“The guy next to me wakes up and jerks forward in his seat and taps me,” Rapaport said during the latest episode of his podcast, I Am Rappaport, detailing how he first noticed a man about to open the plane’s emergency exit.
“I got up out of my seat, half sleeping, with my headphones in my ear, and I put my hand on his shoulder, like ‘What the f**k are you doing?’ He had two hands on the lever,” Rapaport continued. “I said it three times, loud. The second time I said it, he still had his hand on the f**king thing. … I sort of pinned him against the seat. This is happening all in about 45 seconds.”
Former NBA stars Baron Davis and Glen “Big Baby” Davis reportedly leaped from their seats to help Rapaport restrain the man.
Fox Sports Director Ted Kenney was also on the flight and confirmed the event.
“@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!!!,” tweeted Kenney.
“I may have a future as a action hero,” tweeted Davis after the flight.
According to TMZ, the man apparently didn’t speak English well and had mistaken the emergency door for the rest room so airline authorities ended up letting him continue his flight. Reports indicate he was visiting his sick mother in Vietnam.
