A passenger recently opened an emergency exit door mid-flight during a South Korean internal flight causing panic among fellow passengers and the cabin crew.
According to the airline in an official statement, the passenger, a 28-year-old male, opened the door at roughly 15 minutes before landing at Gimhae International Airport located some 500 kilometers south of the capital Seoul.
The flight was carrying 84 passengers. The airline said that they had been alerted by the cabin crew that the door was opened and the plane had to be diverted to Busan as a precautionary measure.
The passenger, who is now under investigation, was quoted as saying that he had opened the door because he “felt like it”. A fellow passenger, however, said that the man in the airport had expressed his anxiousness before the flight began and had told them that he needed to take a “big breath” as he was worried about the flight.
The airline said that it had taken all the necessary steps to deal with the situation and operate the flight as normal after the incident. The matter will now be investigated by aviation safety authorities.