Southwest Airlines pilot crawls through cockpit window after getting locked out

A Southwest Airlines pilot crawled through a cockpit window after getting locked out, a passenger told KSAT.

Matt Rexroad posted a photo of the incident on Twitter, saying, “No joke… Pilot having to crawl through cockpit window to open door so we can board.”

“Well that is definitely something you don’t see every day,” Southwest Airlines tweeted back.

The airline provided an explanation in a statement:

“During the boarding process, while other Customers and Flight Attendants were onboard, a Customer opened the forward lavatory door and inadvertently pushed the Flight Deck door closed (which locked) while the Pilots scheduled to operate the flight were preparing to board the aircraft,” the airline said in a statement to KSAT. “One of our Pilots unlocked the door from a Flight Deck window, and the flight departed as scheduled.”

Rexroad told KSAT that his flight from San Diego to Sacramento was delayed only about eight minutes and called it an “amazing effort” by the pilot.