Chennai: Passengers and crew of an Air Arabia flight were shocked after a man opened the emergency exit and jumped out shortly after the aircraft landed at Chennai airport in the wee hours of Sunday.
The Sharjah-Chennai flight was taxiing towards the bay when the incident happened. The Main runway was shut down for some time thereafter for security reasons.
The incident took place shortly after touchdown, when the aircraft had exited the main runway and was moving slowly along a taxiway before coming to a complete halt, an official said. The sudden act caused panic among passengers and triggered an immediate security response.
“Yes, the flight was still slowly on the move as he jumped out. There was no loss of life or damage to the aircraft,” a senior official at Chennai International Airport told NDTV.
The incident did not occur on the main runway, he clarified.
Preliminary inquiry into the incident suggests that the man may have been unwell during the flight. “He complained of nausea and is believed to have vomited twice on board,” another official said, indicating that his condition may have contributed to his actions.
Personnel from the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) responded swiftly and secured the individual, immediately after receiving an alert from the pilot. The passenger has since been handed over to the police for further investigation.
Airport operations were briefly disrupted after the incident. The main runway was shut between 3.23 am and 4.23 am as a precaution, with flights diverted to the secondary runway during that period.
The passenger’s identity has not been confirmed but sources said that he is from the Pudukkottai district in Tamil Nadu.
A thorough probe has been ordered into the incident. The passenger will be interrogated and his records checked before the next course of action is decided, officials said.
A similar incident has occurred in Chennai on 2021 when a passenger had jumped out of a flight from Dubai immediately after it stopped.
