New England Revolution Staffers Thwart Possible Airplane Disaster

The New England Revolution are the class of Major League Soccer. Now they are the FBI's favorite team.

On an flight bound for Los Angeles, three Revolution staffers subdued a disturbed man as he moved to possibly open an emergency exit at 30,000 feet, according to a report by the Boston Herald. General manager Craig Tornberg, vice-president for player personnel Michael Burns, and goalkeeper coach Gwynne Williams, assisted by another man, stopped the passenger before anything could happen. The flight was diverted to Oklahoma City, where the passenger was taken off the plane.

The situation began around 2 pm on American Airlines flight 725, which was carrying 151 passengers and seven crew members. The Revolution were traveling to L.A. to face Chivas USA in the final match in group play in the Superliga tournament. The Revs had already secured passage to the knockout stages after this week beating both Santos Laguna and Pachuca.

The unidentified passenger, who was reportedly crying in his seat, went to the restroom and emerged naked. Tornberg asked him to put his clothes back on. “My first thought was that he was a streaker," he told the Herald. That isn’t something we haven’t seen before in soccer or in professional sports. My second thought was that there was a lot of families, a lot of women and children on board.”

Flight attendants covered the man with a blanket and escorted him back to his seat. He started to get dresses again, but then stood up and walked up the aisle. It appeared he was returning to the restroom until he swerved at the last minute and approached one of the doors, putting a hand on the emergency handle. “He put one hand on the latch and one hand on the door," Burns said.

At that moment, Tornberg, Burns, Williams, and another man wrestled him away from the door. The flight attendants then manacled him with plastic restraints, and the pilot diverted the plane to Oklahoma City.

“No clothes, that’s one thing,” said Burns, who played for the U.S. National Team in the 1998 World Cup. “That was one level. The exit door was different. It took it to another level. We had a problem then. You start thinking about the safety of everyone on the plane. You don’t think. You just react.”

-- Goal.com