Seoul: In a scary incident, a passenger opened an emergency exit on an Asiana Airlines flight as it was preparing to land on Friday.
The plane landed safely, but several people had to be hospitalised, reported AFP quoting airline officials.
The Airbus A321-200, with around 200 passengers on board a domestic flight, was about to approach the runway at Daegu International Airport, about 240 km southeast of Seoul.
With the plane still about 200 metres above the ground, a passenger who was seated near the emergency exit opened the door manually by touching the lever, a representative of the South Korean carrier told AFP.
The unexpected opening of the door caught fellow passengers by surprise and some of them panicked. Some passengers developed breathing difficulties as a result of the gust of wind which blew in. They were taken to a hospital after the aircraft landed, but there were no major injuries or damage, said Asiana.
Watch the video clip shared on social media:
🚨 Un pasajero ha abierto una salida de emergencia del #A321 HL8256 de #AsianaAirlines en pleno vuelo.
El vuelo #OZ8124 entre Jeju y Daegu del 26 de mayo se encontraba en aproximación cuando una de las salidas de emergencia sobre el ala fue abierta por un pasajero.
El avión… pic.twitter.com/G0rlxPNQuW— On The Wings of Aviation (@OnAviation) May 26, 2023
South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency reported that nine people were hospitalised.
The passenger at fault was taken by police for questioning to find out why he had opened the door.
