The plane was carrying nearly 200 passengers as it
approached the runway on Friday at Daegu International Airport, about 240
kilometres (149 miles) southeast of Seoul, on a domestic flight.
When the plane was around 200 meters (650 feet) above
ground, the man who police said was in his 30s without providing further
details, opened the exit door.
The passenger was taken in by Daegu police for questioning
and told officers he had been “under stress after losing a job recently”.
“He felt the flight was taking longer than it should have
been and felt suffocated inside the cabin,” a Daegu police detective told AFP.
“He wanted out quickly”.
The passenger faces up to 10 years in prison for violating
aviation safety laws.
A video clip shot 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, according to
the transport ministry.
“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.
“I thought the plane was blowing up. I thought I was going
to die like this.”
A transport ministry official told AFP that this was “the
first such incident” they were aware of in Korean aviation history.
Experts say South Korea’s aviation industry has a solid
safety record.
0 comments:
Post a Comment