VIDEO: Passenger opens plane door mid-air on Asiana flight, 12 people injured
Asiana Airlines' Airbus A321 plane, of which a passenger opened a door before the aircraft landed, is pictured at an airport in Daegu on Friday. Reuters
The plane was carrying nearly 200 passengers as it approached the runway at Daegu International Airport in South Korea, about 240 kilometres southeast of Seoul, on a domestic flight.
The flight is normally about an hour, and the incident occurred when the plane was reaching the Daegu airport at an altitude of 700 feet (213 metres).
Some people aboard the Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 aircraft tried to stop the person, who was able to partially open the door, the Transport Ministry said.
The person was detained by airport police on suspicion of violating the aviation security law, a ministry statement said. The person's identity and motive weren't immediately released.
A video apparently taken by a person on board that was posted on social media shows some passengers’ hair being whipped by the air blowing into the cabin through the open door.
The law bars passengers from handling exit doors and other equipment on board and provides for penalties of up to 10 years in prison, the ministry said.
The passengers included teenage athletes on their way to a track and field competition. Some screamed and cried in panic, Yonhap news agency reported, citing their unidentified coach.
Yonhap quoted other passengers as saying they suffered severe ear pain after the door opened. It said some cabin crew shouted for help from passengers to prevent the door from being opened.
Twelve people were taken to hospitals for treatment, according to the Transportation Ministry. Emergency officials in Daegu said the injured people suffered breathing problems and other minor symptoms.
Passengers buffeted
Another video shared on social media showed passengers sitting in the emergency exit row next to an open door being buffeted by strong winds.
The two male passengers, wearing their seatbelts, were wincing as the wind whipped around them, while they clutched the armrests and tried and turn away from the door.
A 44-year-old passenger told Yonhap that it was "chaos" on the flight after the door was opened.
"It was chaos with people close to the door appearing to faint one by one and flight attendants calling out for doctors on board through broadcasting while others were running down the aisle in panic," the passenger said. "I thought the plane was blowing up. I thought I was going to die like this."
A transport ministry official on the aviation safety team told AFP that this was "the first such incident" they were aware of in Korean aviation history.
South Korea's aviation industry has a solid track record for safety, experts say.
Associated Press/ Agence France-Presse
