by Donald Wood
Last updated: 11:45 AM ET, Tue April 5, 2016
Photo courtesy of United Airlines
A flight attendant for United Airlines reportedly opened an exit door after the plane landed Monday in order to inflate the emergency slide without due cause.
According to KPRC Click2Houston, United Airlines Flight 1246 landed at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston at around noon local time after a trip from Sacramento when a crew member deployed the evacuation slide.
The aircraft had come to a full stop at Gate C43 before the flight attendant inflated the emergency slide. In video obtained by KPRC 2, a female crew member is shown tossing her bag out the door to the ground and then using the chute to exit the plane.
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After the woman is safely on the ground, she picks up her bag and simply walks away.
NBC's Today Show shared video of the incident:
The investigation into the incident is still ongoing, but neither United Airlines nor authorities have revealed what led the flight attendant to deploy the emergency slide. While people inside the terminal saw the incident unfold, many passengers on the plane were too busy with a medical emergency-a man having trouble breathing-that had taken place during the trip.
In response, United Airlines has removed the woman from flight duties. The airline released a statement about the incident to ABCNews.com:
"We hold all of our employees to the highest standard. The unsafe behavior is unacceptable and does not represent the more than 20,000 flight attendants who ensure the safety of our customers. United is reviewing the matter and they have removed the employee from her flying duties."
The remaining passengers on the plane were able to leave safely without further incident, and the aircraft is already back in service after crews returned the emergency slide to its normal storage position.
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