Every Air Passenger’s Worst Nightmare: Terrifying Moment Airplane door OPENS in mid-air as traveler grabs emergency exit lever
- The plane was heading to the city of Daegu in South Korea when the gate opened.
In what would be anyone’s worst nightmare, an airplane door flew open in midair when a passenger grabbed the emergency exit lever.
The video shows passengers holding on to their seats as the wind blew up the plane as it descended toward the South Korean city of Daegu on Friday.
The children began to tremble with fear and cry when the door of the Asiana Airlines plane was flung open, witnesses said.
Some 12 passengers were so terrified that they were sent to hospital with difficulty breathing after the plane landed safely at Daego airport at 12:40 p.m. local time with the door still open.
Police detained a man in his 30s for questioning after he opened the door when the plane was still about 650 feet above the ground, Yonhap News Agency reports. It is not clear why he did it.
In what would be anyone’s worst nightmare, an airplane door flew open in midair when a passenger grabbed the emergency exit lever.
The Asiana Airlines plane, with the door still open, at Daegu International Airport on Friday.
Rescue teams transfer a passenger to an ambulance at Daegu International Airport
Some people on board tried to stop the man from opening the door, but were unsuccessful, the Transport Ministry said.
“He is being questioned by the police together with the Ministry of Land and Transport for violations of air safety laws,” the ministry said.
“Under these laws, a person who opens an aircraft door without authorization is subject to a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.”
The plane, which was carrying 194 people, including 48 teenage athletes who were going to compete in a national sporting event in the city of Ulsan, left Jeju Island when the gate opened.
The video shows the wind whipping the door open, with the cloth seatbacks and the hair of the passengers flapping violently as some people screamed in shock.
Another video shows two male passengers, wearing their seatbelts, wincing as the wind whipped at them as they clung to the armrests of their seats.
A 44-year-old passenger told Yonhap there was “chaos” on the flight after the gate opened.
“It was chaos with people near the gate appearing to pass out one by one and flight attendants calling the onboard medics via broadcast while others ran down the aisle in a panic,” the passenger said.
‘I thought the plane was exploding. I thought he was going to die like this.
“The children were shaking and crying in panic,” said the mother of one of the athletes. “Those who were sitting near the exit must have been the most surprised.”
Police detained a male passenger in his 30s for questioning after he opened the door when the plane was still about 650 feet above the ground.
The children were shaking and crying in panic,” said the mother of one of the athletes. “Those who were sitting near the exit must have been the most surprised”
Rescuers carry students on stretchers at Daegu International Airport
A transport ministry official in the aviation security team said this was “the first such incident” they were aware of in Korean aviation history.
South Korea’s aviation industry has a strong safety record, experts say.
Asiana, which was established in 1988 as a rival to flag carrier Korean Air, was involved in a major accident in San Francisco in July 2013.
At that moment, Asiana Flight 214 from Seoul struck a boardwalk with its landing gear, then crashed and burst into flames, killing three people and injuring 182.
And while it’s rare for an airplane door to open while the plane is airborne, it has happened before.
In January, the rear door of a Russian An-26 plane was opened shortly after takeoff in the world’s coldest region.
The pilot made a quick emergency landing in Magan, in the Yakutsk region of Siberia, and everyone on board was “safe” despite the bitter cold in the cabin.
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