Passenger arrested for opening plane door during flight

ASIANA AIRLINES BOEING 777-28E HL-7739 (MSN 29175)

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 still open at Daegu International Airport on Friday. Some passengers fainted while others had breathing problems and were taken to hospital, local media reported.

The man in his 30s said he was feeling suffocated and wanted to get off quickly, Yonhap news agency reported. Police said the man claimed during questioning that he was stressed after losing his job.

"He is mentally struggling right now and losing his footing. We could not investigate him properly due to his state," a local police officer told reporters, adding that the man could not be asked any questions as he was not "in a normal state".

Flight OZ8124 had taken off from Jeju Island (CJU/RKPC) on Friday from runway 07 at 11.48 a.m. local time (03:48 GMT). As it was landing, around fifty minutes later on runway 13R, in Daegu (TAE/RKTN) a male passenger opened the emergency door while the plane was still 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 able to stop him because the plane was about to land, witnesses recounted to local media.

They said the man had also tried to jump out of the plane after opening the door. Passengers have described the panic on board.

"It was chaos with people close to the door appearing to faint one by one and flight attendants calling out for doctors on board through broadcasting," one 44-year-old passenger told Yonhap.

"I thought the plane was blowing up. I thought I was going to die like this," he added.

Several school age children had also been on board, on their way to a weekend sporting event. The mother of one of the students told Yonhap: "The children were shaking, crying, and frightened."


Aircraft Information:

Airline: Asian Airlines

Code: OZ/AAR

Aircraft: Airbus A321-231 

Registration: HL-8256

Serial Number: 5169

Engines: 2 x IAE V2533-A5

First Flew: 18/05/2012

Age: 11 Yrs