Passengers on a flight were thrown into panic after a man reportedly rushed towards an emergency exit and attempted to open the door while the aircraft was airborne.

Videos circulating on social media showed passengers standing in the aisle as cabin crew members moved quickly to restrain the man near the emergency exit.

Some passengers were seen recording the incident on their phones, while others watched in apparent shock as crew members and fellow passengers struggled to bring the situation under control.

According to a social media user who posted details of the incident, the man suddenly moved towards the emergency exit, triggering alarm among passengers.

Additional footage showed a tense atmosphere inside the cabin, with some passengers appearing visibly shaken as the crew intervened.

The cabin crew eventually contained the man, preventing the situation from escalating further.

However, details surrounding the incident remained unclear. It was not immediately established what prompted the man’s actions, whether the emergency exit was successfully opened or whether he was handed over to authorities after the aircraft landed.

The identity of the man, the airline involved, the flight number and its destination were also not immediately confirmed from the footage circulating online.

The incident comes amid heightened attention on aviation security following a recent incident involving a flydubai flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv.

In that case, the co-pilot of flight FZ1073 was accused of attacking the captain with an emergency crash axe and attempting to hijack the aircraft.

The United Arab Emirate’ Attorney-General described the incident as an attempted “terrorist act”.

The co-pilot, an Omani national, allegedly attacked and wounded the captain in the cockpit before passengers overpowered him. Another crew member subsequently helped land the aircraft safely in Saudi Arabia.

Reports from the United States and Israel said the co-pilot had allegedly planned to crash the aircraft into Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion Airport or a high-rise building in the Israeli city.

The reports described him as a suspected lone-wolf extremist.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also said the co-pilot had undergone what he described as “Islamist radical indoctrination”, while praising the captain, passengers and another crew member for preventing what he characterised as a potential disaster.

The two incidents are separate, and there was no indication from the available footage that the latest reported incident was connected to the flydubai case.

Aviation authorities and the airline involved in the latest incident had yet to issue an official statement confirming the circumstances surrounding the reported attempt to open the emergency exit. (The Guardian)