"Flight Attendant Terrified and Desperate" vs "Lies"... Controversy Over Asiana Passenger Interview

"Flight Attendants Took No Action" Interview Released
"Different from the Facts" Eyewitness Account

On the 26th, an incident occurred at Jeju Airport where an Asiana Airlines plane heading to Daegu Airport had its door open just before landing, sparking controversy due to conflicting testimonies among passengers regarding the crew's response.

On the 26th, an Asiana Airlines passenger plane flew with its door open just before landing.
[Source=Yonhap News]

The starting point was a passenger interview reported by Daegu MBC that day. A passenger who was on Asiana flight 8124 involved in the incident stated in an interview with Daegu MBC, “There was no action taken by the crew,” adding, “I thought, ‘If the emergency door isn’t closed, landing will be difficult. Should I go and close it myself?’ At that moment, I looked at the crew member’s face, and she was completely terrified, just sitting still. She was in a state of despair.” He continued, “On our side, people were screaming and panicking. When we landed safely, everyone was clapping and praying. It was like a disaster movie.”

Photo by Daegu MBC

Another passenger immediately refuted this. Introducing himself as “one of the three male passengers who filmed the original video used in the news report on YouTube and restrained the suspect at the time” in comments on the interview video and online communities, he wrote that “the crew tried to control the suspect.”

He recalled the incident, saying, “Four female crew members tried to hold the suspect, but it was impossible to subdue him as he was over 185 cm tall and appeared to weigh around 120 kg.” He added, “The crew urgently asked for help, so I and two men who looked to be in their 40s joined in to pull the suspect up and press him down in the aisle to prevent him from moving.”

[Image source=Yonhap News]

He explained, “We kept restraining him for about five minutes until the plane stopped moving,” and “Out of 194 passengers, only about 10 people, including the crew, the three male passengers, and two others waiting in the aisle, tried to resolve the situation.” He emphasized, “The large suspect tried to jump out, so four crew members held him back while I and two other male passengers pulled and pressed him down with our knees and hands until landing. The crew controlled the suspect immediately after landing.”

He then questioned the passenger who gave the interview to Daegu MBC, asking, “If you say the crew did nothing, then what were you doing?” He urged, “Please verify the facts before giving interviews. It’s frustrating to see interviews like this that claim to be doing good but spread falsehoods. The crew did everything they could.” He also added, “Regarding the claim that passengers clapped and caused a commotion after landing, that’s not true either; everyone was just quietly disembarking in shock.”

Netizens who read both sides’ statements reacted by saying that the interviewee’s claim of “trying to close the door myself” was absurd. They criticized the attitude of blaming the crew who struggled in an unexpected emergency situation as unpleasant.

The incident occurred when a male passenger in his 30s suddenly opened the door just before landing. Among the 194 passengers on board, nine showed symptoms of respiratory distress and were taken to the hospital immediately after landing, treated, and later discharged.