The young male passenger opened the emergency exit as the China Eastern Airlines flight came in to land, causing chaos in the cabin and preventing others from disembarking for 20 minutes
Chaos erupted on a plane after a passenger opened an emergency exit upon landing at a Chinese airport. As the passenger jet was taxiing on the runway, the man yanked the emergency handle and deployed the evacuation slide. According to witnesses, the man said he opened the exit to “get some fresh air”.
His actions caused chaos in the cabin, and passengers were delayed from disembarking the plane for around 20 minutes. The suspect, described as a young male, was then escorted off the plane by police officers for questioning. He is accused of opening the emergency door on China Eastern Airlines flight MU5828.
The flight took off from Changsha, China, and arrived at Kunming Changshui International Airport at around 8.42 am yesterday. No one was reported as injured during the drama that followed the man’s decision to open the door on the runway.
In China, fines for opening the emergency exit can range from £10,482 to £20,985 (CNY 100,000 and 200,000), depending on the plane and circumstances. China Eastern Airlines has been approached for comment.
In March 2022, a China Eastern Airlines flight was involved in the third-deadliest aviation accident in the country’s history.
The domestic flight took off from Kunming Changshui International Airport bound for Guangzhou, but crashed en route, killing all 132 passengers and crew onboard.
Just last month, a “claustrophobic” woman left fellow passengers terrified after opening an emergency exit during take off in Korea. There were 202 passengers and seven crew members on the Air Seoul flight RS902, which was due to fly to Jeju Airport from Gimpo International in the South Korean capital.
The woman’s actions led to an evacuation slide being deployed, and the flight was cancelled. The crew had just finished up making their announcements and were taxiing along the runway when the 30-year-old woman unbuckled her seatbelt and jumped up from her seat in the first few rows of the plane.
According to reports, she rushed to the front of the plane and forcibly opened the emergency exit. A flight attendant tried to stop the young woman, but the door opened with a loud popping sound and the slide extended to the ground.
Again in South Korea earlier this year, an airline vowed to investigate its staff after they opened an emergency exit and posed for photos on the plane wing.
The incident happened while Eastar Jet Flight 703 was delayed by more than an hour. The delay was due to snow temporarily closing the runway. Images taken from afar show how three uniformed stewardesses climbed onto the left wing of the Boeing 737 to pose for pictures.