26 Might 2023
Updated 1 hour ago
Video caption,
Watch: Inside cabin as plane door opened mid-flight
A man has been arrested for opening a door of an Asiana Airlines flight as it was landing in South Korea.
All 194 passengers survived the flight, which landed safely but with its door nevertheless open at Daegu International Airport on Friday.
Some passengers fainted although other individuals had breathing issues and had been taken to hospital, neighborhood media reported.
The man in his 30s mentioned he was feeling suffocated and wanted to get off promptly, Yonhap news agency reported.
Police mentioned the man claimed for the duration of questioning that he was stressed immediately after losing his job, according to the report.
Flight OZ8124, an Airbus A321-200 jet, had taken off from Jeju Island on Friday about 11:45 neighborhood time (03:45 GMT).
As it was landing about an hour later, a male passenger opened the emergency door although the plane was nevertheless 250m from ground.
A passenger’s video shared on social media shows the gap in the left hand side of the plane and winds buffeting rows of seated passengers.
Flight attendants had not been in a position to cease him mainly because the plane was about to land, witnesses recounted to neighborhood media.
They mentioned the man had also attempted to jump out of the plane immediately after opening the door.
Passengers have described the panic on board.
“It was chaos with individuals close to the door appearing to faint a single by a single and flight attendants calling out for physicians on board via broadcasting,” a single 44-year-old passenger told Yonhap.
“I believed the plane was blowing up. I believed I was going to die like this,” he added.
Image caption,
The Asiana Airlines plane landed at Daegu with its door open
A number of college age young children had also been on board, on their way to a weekend sporting occasion.
The mother of a single of the students told Yonhap: “The young children had been shaking, crying, and frightened.”