"Just Wanted Some Fresh Air"... Passenger's Bizarre Excuse for Opening Plane Door After Landing

Damages Amount to Approximately 20 to 40 Million Won
Detained by Police... Authorities Investigate Circumstances of the Incident

An incident occurred at an airport in southern China where a passenger opened the emergency exit without authorization immediately after the plane landed.

According to Chinese local media such as Guangming Daily and Jimu News on May 12 (local time), at around 8:42 a.m. on May 11, a male passenger opened the emergency exit as China Eastern Airlines flight MU5828, which had departed from Changsha, landed at Kunming Airport.

Photo to aid understanding of the above article. Pixabay

When the emergency exit was opened, the emergency evacuation slide deployed, but the crew responded immediately and no further damage occurred. All passengers safely disembarked from the aircraft about 20 minutes later. One passenger told Jimu News, "All passengers were safe and nothing happened," adding, "It was just a simple incident."

According to witnesses, the passenger who opened the emergency exit said he saw the indicator light turn on and opened the door to get some fresh air. The passenger was detained by the police immediately after the incident, and authorities are investigating the circumstances of the case.

A passenger opened the emergency exit. Weibo

Media outlets reported that, depending on the type of aircraft, damages resulting from unauthorized opening of an emergency exit can reach between 100,000 yuan (about 20 million won) and 200,000 yuan (about 40 million won).

As news of the incident spread, the phrase "Passenger who opened emergency exit on passenger plane detained by police" appeared on Baidu's real-time hot keywords. On Chinese social networking service Weibo, the search term "airplane safety door assassin" also ranked first in real-time search rankings.