Two people and their service dog used the emergency slide to slip out of a plane Monday morning preparing to take off from LaGuardia Airport.
The passengers opened a cabin door, activated the slide, and then took off the Delta flight bound for Atlanta, Georgia, taxiing out of the runway, an airline spokesman said.
The pair were taken into custody by the port authority police but were not charged Monday night, WPIX-TV reported.
Brian Plummer, who was also on Flight 462, told The New York Times that he had seen the man, woman and their dog change seats several times as the plane prepared to take off.
Then the man jerked up from his seat and told a flight attendant that he could not sit down because of his post-traumatic stress disorder.
“When I sit down, I go crazy,” said the man, according to Plummer.
No one was injured in the incident.
The plane, which was scheduled to take off shortly before 10 a.m., returned to the gate where the rest of the passengers were transferred to other flights, the airline’s spokesman said.
“Maintenance technicians have evaluated the aircraft and it is scheduled to be returned to service tonight,” he added.