An Asiana Airlines flight is grounded as one of the plane’s doors suddenly opens at Daegu International Airport in Daegu, South Korea, Friday, May 26, 2023.
Yun Kwan-shick/AP
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Yun Kwan-shick/AP
An Asiana Airlines flight is grounded as one of the plane’s doors suddenly opens at Daegu International Airport in Daegu, South Korea, Friday, May 26, 2023.
Yun Kwan-shick/AP
SEOUL, South Korea – A passenger opened an emergency exit door on a South Korean flight on Friday, causing air to blow inside the cabin before the plane landed safely, the airline and government officials said.
Other passengers on board the Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 tried to stop the man from opening the door but it was eventually opened partially, the transport ministry said.
The plane, with 194 people on board, was en route to the southeastern city of Daegu from the southern island of Jeju. The flight normally takes about an hour, and details of the incident, including the height of the door, were being investigated, according to Asiana Airlines.
Footage captured by a passenger on television shows other passengers’ hair being whipped by air blowing into the cabin through an open door.
Police arrested an unidentified man who opened the door, the airline said. Their motive was not immediately known.
The riders included young athletes who wanted to compete in a marathon in Ulsan, a city in the southeast.
The incident scared some passengers but no one was injured, although some passengers were treated at the hospital, Asiana Trade Ministry officials said.