Southwest Passenger Hospitalized After Opening Emergency Exit and Climbing onto Plane Wing

• A Southwest Airlines passenger was hospitalized after opening the emergency exit door of the airplane and climbing onto the wing.
• The incident occurred around 7:41 p.m. CT at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport in Kenner, La.
• The passenger’s behavior appeared to be the result of a “mental health emergency,” according to a news release from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office.

A Southwest Airlines passenger was taken to the hospital on Sunday night after he opened the emergency exit of the aircraft. 

According to a news release from the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office shared with PEOPLE, the 38-year-old man climbed onto the wing of the plane before jumping to the ground while it was still stationed at its gate before takeoff. The incident occurred around 7:41 p.m. CT at Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. 

The man was taken to a local hospital after deputies noticed he was “incoherent and not fully aware of his surroundings,” the release states. As the passenger’s behavior appeared to be the result of a “mental health emergency,” he was not arrested or criminally charged.

As of Monday afternoon, the man is still in the hospital and the investigation is being referred to federal authorities. 

In a statement to PEOPLE, a representative for Southwest Airlines said, “We commend our flight and ground crews for their swift action and apologize to our customers for their inconvenience.”

They added that the flight eventually departed for Atlanta before reaching its final destination of Baltimore.

In March, Southwest Airlines passengers witnessed another alarming incident when a flight departing from José Martí International Airport in Havana, Cuba was forced to turn back and make an emergency landing. 

The plane was headed to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. when a fire started in the engine due to a bird strike. Videos from passengers on board showed the cabin filling with thick smoke as oxygen masks dangled above them. 

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"The pilots safely returned to Havana where the 147 customers and six crew evacuated the aircraft via slides due to smoke in the cabin," a spokesperson for the airline told PEOPLE at the time. 

"The customers and crew were bussed to the terminal and are being accommodated on alternative flights to Fort Lauderdale," they added.