The brother of boxer Dillian Whyte was among the passengers who prevented a man from trying to open the doors of a British Airways flight to Saudi Arabia mid-air.
Dean Whyte intervened as a man, who was reportedly suffering from a panic attack, attempted to prise the door open during Monday night’s flight from Heathrow to Riyadh.
The Guardian report Whyte was alerted to the incident and went to assist plane staff, grabbing the agitated passenger in a bear hug, repeatedly telling him: “Calm down, bruv” before air stewards rushed down the plane to help.
The passenger later returned to his seat where he remained for the rest of the flight.
Dillian was also on board, travelling to the Saudi capital for his fight on the undercard of Anthony Joshua’s rematch with Andy Ruiz Jr.
Joshua’s mother Yeta Odusanya was also on board, along with several members of the Matchroom Boxing staff.
Whyte told the Guardian: “It was like something out of a movie. When I got there he was shouting ‘I want to get out’ in broken English. I managed to grab him and was preparing to slam him hard if necessary but myself and the steward could see he wasn’t quite right in the head so I held him and tried to calm him down. Eventually it worked.”
Whyte has also shared the incident on Twitter, simply noting "just happy I was there to help."
