He decided to open the emergency door on his flight while it was still 700 feet above the airport. The yet unnamed passenger was feeling a little claustrophobic so did something you never want to do, no matter how tempting it seems. The video is going viral.
Just open the door
The incident happened Friday and video of what happens when you open the door of a plane in mid-flight instantly went viral. It took a couple days for the man’s motivation to drip out in the media.
No matter what his reason, a whole planeload of South Korean travelers suffered for it. So far, 12 people have been reported injured from the massive blast of air whipping around the cabin. Officials make a point of noting that the plane landed safely.
According to South Korea’s Transport Ministry, some alert passengers on the Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 “tried to stop the person, who was able to partially open the door.” They’re in a whole bunch of trouble for that.
— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) May 26, 2023
“The person was detained by airport police on suspicion of violating the aviation security law.” Initial reports claimed that “the person’s identity and motive weren’t immediately released.” The motivation came out later.
The “man in his 30’s” was feeling claustrophobic, anxious to get off the plane and wanted some air. “The passenger in question was reported to be feeling suffocated and wanted to get off quickly. He faces ten years in prison if convicted.”
A passenger captured footage of what happens when the emergency door pops open. It will surely be used at his trial.
Injured by air flow
You don’t want to stick you’re face out the window like a dog when you’re moving along at more than 300 miles an hour. You don’t even want to open the window. You especially don’t want to open the door.
The airline is lucky that nobody was sucked out before they knew what happened. From now on, the airline is blocking the seats of emergency exit rows off from sale.
The plane had 194 passengers and six crew onboard when the door was suddenly opened. Most made it off safely but “12 passengers suffered minor injuries from hyperventilation, nine of which were admitted to hospital.”
Footage of the passenger opening the plane door mid-air on that Asiana Airlines flight has been released. pic.twitter.com/szSy1X5vtb
— Mike Breen (@mbreen1986) May 26, 2023
It’s hard to breath when a hurricane is blowing in your face. He may be in trouble but the reckless passenger answered a question which has baffled the experts for a really long time.
Because there’s never been anyone stupid enough to actually try it before, there’s been a huge debate in the aviation industry over whether it’s even possible. We now know it is.
“Opening an aircraft door mid-flight is generally considered impossible due to the high cabin pressure, which exerts a substantial force on the door due to pressurization.” It makes a difference that the plane was on final approach. At only 700 feet above the ground the pressure was equal enough on both sides.
