SEOUL: South Korean police have initiated an inquiry after Asiana Airlines reported that a customer opened a door on a flight moments before it landed safely in Daegu on Friday.
According to the airport’s flight schedule, the Airbus A321 airliner arrived at Daegu airport about 12:40 p.m. after flying from the island of Jeju an hour earlier.
No one was injured in the incident, but nine people were sent to a nearby hospital after experiencing respiratory problems, according to a Daegu fire department official.
According to Jeju’s education administration, eight of those sent to the hospital were schoolchildren.
According to Asiana personnel, authorities were interviewing a passenger near an emergency exit row.
“Police are investigating the incident after a passenger who was sitting near the emergency exit said he touched its lever,” one of the officers said.
An Asiana official said the jet was around two or three minutes from landing when a male passenger sitting close to an emergency door opened a cover and pressed a lever, causing the door to open about 200 meters (656 ft) above the earth.
The plane was about to land, therefore everyone on board was wearing their seat belts, according to the spokeswoman.
Source: Reuters