A Maidstone IT consultant had to help calm a flight passenger who tried to open a plane door at 30,000 feet.

Richard Conyard was travelling to Pisa from London Gatwick when an Italian man tried the handle of the EasyJet plane, 30,000 feet in the air.

Passengers were said to be screaming when the incident happened, but the owner of IT consultancy firm Think Play Solve said: "It was all over in about 10 seconds.

"We were about to start our descent so people were using the loos.

"He came out of the toilet and made a beeline directly for the front right hand door of the plane.

"He grabbed the handle and tried to open it, obviously there's no way he could because of the pressure.

"A member of the cabin crew shouted 'what are you doing?' He said he didn't know in broken English. He didn't resist, she pushed him in one of the front row seats.

"A couple of people got up and stayed with him, there was a doctor on board and he spoke to him.

"I think he basically just had a panic attack."

Shortly afterwards the man was moved back to the second row and surrounded by passengers, including Mr Conyard, who would be able to restrain him if he tried to go for the door.

Mr Conyard, 42, from Holland Road, said: "I tried to speak to him a little bit to keep him calm, he couldn't speak much English.

"He clearly was suffering with some mental illness.

"Everybody was quite calm, an American passenger told me I should bind his hands, but he was calm and there was no need to.

"To be honest, everyone on board was quite stoic throughout the incident. The cabin crew handled it all very well."

Police at Pisa International Airport Police questioned the man, thought to be in his 30s when the plane landed on Wednesday afternoon.

According to Italian news site Repubblica, the man was eventually released without charge.

An EasyJet spokeswoman said: "We can confirm the Captain of flight EZY8233 from London Gatwick to Pisa on April 24 requested police to meet the aircraft on arrival as a passenger made an attempt to open one of the cabin doors during the descent. "While it would not have been possible to open the door due to the cabin pressurisation, the crew responded quickly to ensure the passenger remained seated until landing.

"EasyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time. Safety is always EasyJet's highest priority."