A man who allegedly opened an emergency exit on an Asiana Airlines flight in midair felt “suffocated” and wanted to get off quickly, South Korean police said yesterday.
The plane was carrying nearly 200 passengers on Friday as it approached the runway at Daegu International Airport, about 240km southeast of Seoul, on a domestic flight.
When the plane was about 200m above ground, the man, who police said was in his 30s without providing further details, opened the exit door. He was taken in by Daegu police for questioning and was quoted as telling officers that he had been “under stress after losing a job recently.”
Photo: AP
“He felt the flight was taking longer than it should have been and felt suffocated inside the cabin,” a Daegu police detective said. “He wanted out quickly.”
The passenger faces up to 10 years in prison if he is found guilty of contravening aviation safety laws.
Video footage recorded by a nearby passenger showed wind ripping through the open door, with fabric seat-backs and passengers’ hair flapping wildly as some people shouted in surprise.
Another video shared on social media showed passengers sitting in the emergency exit row next to an open door being buffeted by strong winds.
A dozen passengers were taken to hospital after experiencing breathing difficulties, but there were no major injuries or damage, the South Korean Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said.
“It was chaos with people close to the door appearing to faint one by one, and flight attendants calling out for doctors on board,” a 44-year-old passenger told Yonhap news agency. “I thought the plane was blowing up. I thought I was going to die like this.”
A transport ministry official said that this was “the first such incident” they were aware of in South Korean aviation history.
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