Officials said that on Friday, South Korean police arrested a man who opened a door of an Asiana Airlines plane just minutes before it was scheduled to land in the city of Daegu, causing pandemonium among the passengers.
The Airbus A321-200 safely landed at approximately 12:40 p.m. (0340 GMT). According to the airport’s flight schedule, it had left the island destination of Jeju an hour earlier.
An official from the Daegu fire department stated that nine passengers, all adolescents, were taken to the hospital for breathing problems.
“I feared the airplane would detonate… It appeared that passengers next to the open door were passing out,” a 44-year-old passenger told Yonhap News Agency.
The passenger reported that the cabin crew made an announcement inquiring if there were any physicians on board.
A passenger captured the minutes before landing on TV, with a door open and passengers sat nearby.
The transport ministry stated in a statement that police had apprehended the individual who had opened the door. And that authorities were conducting an investigation into violations of aviation safety laws.
A transport ministry spokesman said officials were probing Asiana Airlines’ emergency exit management.
The official stated that the emergency egress could be opened when the aircraft was close to the ground. Because the pressure inside and outside the cabin was comparable.
Two or three minutes before touchdown, a male passenger sitting next to an emergency exit opened a cover and yanked a lever, allowing the door to open approximately 200 meters (656 feet) above the ground, according to an Asiana spokesperson.
