Passenger tries to open door in flight

A plane travelling from Los Angeles to Houston was diverted after a woman “behaving erratically” tried to open an emergency exit near the end of the flight, passengers say.

The woman was subdued by a police officer.

A passenger on Southwest Airlines Flight 4519 told KHOU-TV that the woman was behaving erratically throughout Sunday’s morning flight.

“She wrote ‘Help me’ and her name on napkins,” the traveller said.

Southwest Airlines said in a statement that the pilot chose to divert to Corpus Christi, Texas, after crew members reported “a potential threat in the cabin”.