Global Courant 2023-05-26 15:31:22
The unexpected opening of an emergency exit on an Asiana Airlines plane landing in Daegu, South Korea, on Friday shocked passengers and nine of them were hospitalized after experiencing difficulty breathing.
Police arrested a man in his thirties on suspicion of forcing the door. The suspect, who could be prosecuted for violating aviation security laws, has not revealed a motive, said Kim Hyeong-su, an officer in the criminal affairs department of Daegu Dongbu police station.
The plane, which left Jeju Island at 11:58 a.m., was at an altitude of 700 feet and minutes from landing at 12:38, when a man in line at the emergency exit next door pushed it open, an airline spokesman said. According to FlightAware, the plane was flying about 170 mph at the time.
Normally, when an aircraft is in mid-flight, the difference in air pressure inside and outside the cabin prevents the doors from opening. But the plane was so close to the ground that the difference was negligible, allowing the door to be unlocked, said airline spokesman Baek Hyunwoo.
The crew members couldn’t stop the man because the nearest flight attendant was too far away to reach him in time, and everyone on board – crew and passengers – had to wear seatbelts during landing, he added.
The plane landed safely, Mr Baek said, and there were no serious injuries among the 194 passengers and six crew members. But 12 people — all but one between the ages of 11 and 16 — had hyperventilation, a spokesman for the Daegu Fire and Safety Department said. Nine of them were taken to nearby hospitals.
