2024-02-10 12:36:57
A Canadian tourist opened the door of a Taiwan Airlines plane just as the plane was preparing to take off from Chiang Mai Airport for the capital Bangkok, Thai television and local authorities said, as quoted by Reuters.
“There was complete commotion on the plane,” wrote passenger Ananya Tiangtae on Facebook. “What if we were at 100,000 feet above sea level? What would happen then?”
The man opened the emergency exit, which triggered the plane’s inflatable slide and it was unable to take off, Chiang Mai Airport director Ronakorn Chalermsaenyakorn said.
The plane returned to the terminal and the passengers disembarked, after which technical teams did an inspection, he said. The incident prevented more than ten flights from leaving the airport.
After the technical inspection, the plane received permission to take off. No passengers or crew members were injured.
The passenger was later shown in the custody of a local police station on Taiwanese television footage, which it said was a Canadian tourist.
“He admitted that he opened the door and the reason was that people were chasing him. His behavior shows that he was probably hallucinating,” the offender’s lawyer, Jirawat Yarnkyatpakde, told Thai television.