A passenger on an El Al flight which landed in New York opened the plane's emergency exit and attempted to jump out of the aircraft Wednesday.
Crew-members grabbed the man before he could leap, saving his life.
Local ground crews took him down with a ladder and he was arrested by the local police.
The incident took place on flight LY001 from Tel Aviv to New York after the Boeing 747, which had about 400 passengers, landed at John F. Kennedy International Airport. (JFK) Wednesday morning local time.
El Al stated that "when the plane arrived at the gate and during the descent of the passengers, an American passenger opened one of the rear passenger doors that are not intended for passengers. Two EL AL crew-members who noticed the passenger kept their cool and acted resourcefully in grabbing the passenger as he hung from the door at a great height, and thereby saved his life."
"An El Al ground crew employee An El Al employee who noticed this was also resourceful and quickly brought a ladder to the door. The passenger jumped onto the ladder and began to run on the runway until he was stopped by the authorities and transferred for questioning and to clarify his motives for the act," the company added.
El Al CEO Gonen Usishken praised the staff for "preventing a serious incident and loss of human life."