Coyote Ugly star Maria Bello became a hero during a recent flight when she helped a fellow passenger overcome a severe panic attack.

Airline crew on the Los Angeles to New York flight feared they would have to make an emergency landing after a woman began panicking and screaming just 15 minutes after take-off. However the actress, whose mother Kathy was a school nurse, was able to step in and talk the unnamed female through her terrifying ordeal.

Bello tells Fox News, "The flight attendants didn't know what to do. But weirdly enough I did because I've had a lot of mental illness around me in my life. It was really scary. They thought they were going to have to make an emergency landing."

"It made me feel really happy that I'd had these experiences with other people and knew what to do."

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)