2023-05-30 00:44:03
The reaction is drastic. Last Friday, a passenger on a flight operated by Asiana Airlines opened an emergency exit in full landing phase. The opening of the door 200 m from the ground caused breathing difficulties in some passengers, a dozen of them had to be taken to hospital. To prevent this incident from happening again, the South Korean airline has decided to stop the sale of seats located near the emergency exits, it announces. in a press release this Monday.
This decision will apply “even when the flight is full”, assures the company, referring to “a pure security measure”. This concerns the seats bearing the numbers 26A on the 174-seat A321 aircraft and 31A on the 195-seat models, i.e. those located to the left of the aircraft. The seats on the right are not affected since they are already allocated to air hostesses and stewards, explains Asiana Airlines.
The “first such incident”
The man who opened the emergency exit was arrested as soon as the plane landed, at Daegu International Airport in South Korea. He told South Korean police he felt he was “choking” and wanted to get out of the plane “quickly”. He explained to the agents that he found himself “in a state of stress after having recently lost his job”. He faces up to 10 years in prison for violating aviation security legislation.
The aircraft was carrying nearly 200 passengers. “Fortunately, no one was seriously injured because the plane was in the landing phase and everyone was strapped in,” the company reassured itself in its press release. According to an official from the Ministry of Transport, it is the “first such incident” in the history of South Korean aviation.
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