South Korea: The passenger opened the emergency exit door while the plane carrying around 200 people was still in the air

Passenger opened the emergency exit door on a South Korean Asiana Airlines flight when the plane was still about 250 meters above the ground, says, among other things, a South Korean Yonhap News Agency.

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According to Yonhap, authorities have arrested the 33-year-old man who opened the door, and investigations are underway to determine whether the man violated the Aviation Safety Act.

The airplane model Airbus A321-200 was on its way to the city of Daegu in South Korea. There were about 200 passengers on the plane.

No one was injured as a result of the door opening, but nine teenagers were taken to hospital after the plane landed, the Daegu Fire Department said, according to Reuters.

“It was chaos. It looked like the passengers sitting near the door were about to pass out. The flight crew announced if there were any doctors on board. Some ran in panic along the plane’s corridor,” a passenger described the mood to Yonhap.

Flight crew could not interfere with the man who opened the door because the plane was just about to land.

According to witnesses interviewed by Yonhap, the man who opened the door tried to jump out of the door, but was stopped by nearby passengers.

According to South Korea’s Ministry of Transport, they are investigating whether Asiana Airlines followed the protocol related to the emergency exit, Reuters reports.

According to the ministry, it is possible that the emergency exit door can be opened close to the ground when the air pressure inside and outside the plane is the same.