A routine boarding at Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport turned into a strangely low-tech problem for a very high-tech machine when the pilots of an American Airlines flight to Monterey found themselves locked out of their own cockpit during preboarding. Maintenance crews eventually regained access through a cockpit side window, and the flight departed after what passengers said was roughly a 90-minute delay.
As reported by Chron, one passenger described the scene in a Reddit post, saying that as travelers were walking down the jet bridge for preboarding, the captain suddenly told them to turn around and head back to the gate because the crew had been locked out of the flight deck. According to the post, maintenance was called in and began working from outside the aircraft to get the door open.
How crews got back in
The same Reddit user later edited the post to report that passengers "finally boarded" after about a 1.5-hour delay. Multiple commenters said a maintenance worker climbed onto the fuselage and entered through a cockpit window to unlock the door from the inside. Chron notes that technicians later concluded the door was sticking rather than fully locked, and cited a travel blog that quoted the pilot joking they had "lubed it up real good" before takeoff. Reddit provided contemporaneous accounts.
Not common, but not unprecedented
Pilots climbing through cockpit windows is not exactly an everyday sight, but it has happened before when doors jam on the ground. In May 2023, CBS News Sacramento published photos of a Southwest pilot using the same maneuver in San Diego, and travel writers have documented similar episodes. Those past reports highlight that while unusual, airlines and maintenance crews have established procedures to safely regain access before departure. See coverage from View From The Wing for prior examples.
For travelers leaving DFW that day, the incident was a reminder that even a stubborn door can snowball into a serious delay at a major hub. According to the Reddit poster, the group ultimately boarded and made it to Monterey after the roughly 90-minute hold.
