The man who opened the emergency door of an Asiana Airlines plane in full explained to the police why he carried out an action that put the entire aircraft at risk and can lead him to spend almost ten years in prison.
The plane, an Airbus A321-200, was carrying nearly 200 passengers when it arrived on the tarmac at Daegu International Airport, 240 km south of Seoul, on a local flight traveling through the skies of South Korea on Friday.
When the plane was about 200 meters above the ground, the man in his 30s, according to police, opened the exit door. He told agents he was "under stress after losing his job recently."
What's more, he said he felt "suffocated" and wanted to get out quickly, South Korean police said Saturday.
"He felt the flight was taking longer than it should have been and felt suffocated in the cockpit," a Daegu police detective told AFP. The passenger faces 10 years in prison for violating aviation security laws.
Asiana Airlines' Airbus A321 aircraft, from which a passenger opened a door on a flight shortly before the plane landed, is shown at an airport in Daegu. Reuters Photo,
The scene quickly went viral on social media. A video taken by a passenger showed the wind coming in hard through the open door, wildly waving the hair of passengers, while some screamed in surprise.
Another video shared on social media showed passengers sitting in the emergency line next to an open door, being buffeted by strong winds.
The two passengers, wearing their seat belts, grimaced in pain and clung to the armrests, trying to get away from the door.
Rescuers transfer a passenger on a stretcher to an ambulance at Daegu International Airport in Daegu. AP Photo.
Several passengers were taken to hospital after suffering breathing difficulties from the violent current that got into the cabin, but there were no serious injuries or damage, according to the Ministry of Transport.
"It was chaos with people near the door appearing to faint one by one, and flight attendants calling doctors on board," a 44-year-old passenger told Yonhap. "I thought the plane was exploding. I thought I was going to die," he added.
A transport ministry official told AFP it was "the first such incident" he knew of in the history of Korean aviation. Experts say South Korea's airline industry has a strong safety record.
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