Passenger opens Korean plane door mid-air because 'feeling stuffy'

South Korean police say the male passenger opened the door of the Asiana Airlines plane while it was landing because he "felt stuffy" and wanted to get off quickly.

"He felt the flight was longer than expected and felt stuffy in the cabin," a police officer in Daegu city, about 240 km southeast of Seoul, told AFP today. "He wanted to get off the plane quickly."

The male passenger, in his 30s, opened the emergency exit door of the Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 at an altitude of 200 meters when the plane landed at Daegu airport on May 26. None of the 194 passengers on board were injured, but nine people had to go to the hospital due to difficulty breathing and were all discharged.

During the interrogation, the male passenger also said he was "under great pressure because he had just lost his job". He could face up to 10 years in prison for violating aviation safety regulations.

A South Korean Transport Ministry official said this was the "first such incident" in the country's aviation history.

Plane carrying nearly 200 people opened its doors while landing.

The emergency exit door of an Asiana Airlines plane opened while landing on May 26. Video : BNO News

Aviation experts say this is a rare incident, as the emergency exit doors on planes are designed to close tightly in the air and are capable of withstanding huge pressure differences.

“They are essentially stuck in the closed position throughout the flight,” said Nick Wilson, associate professor of aeronautics at the University of North Dakota in the US.

Doors and emergency exits are part of the system that ensures the aircraft cabin remains airtight and maintains the same pressure as on the ground. Without pressurization, the cabin will quickly lose pressure when the plane is operating at high altitudes, causing the crew and passengers to lack oxygen, leading to unconsciousness and death.

An Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 at Daegu airport after a passenger opened the emergency exit while landing on May 26. Photo: Yonhap

Nhu Tam (According to AFP, Yonhap )

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