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South Korean authorities detained a man on Friday after he opened the door of an Asiana Airlines flight minutes before it crashed in the city of Daegu, sparking panic among passengers, officials said.
The Airbus A321-200 landed safely at around 12.45 WIB. It had departed from the holiday island of Jeju an hour earlier, the airport’s flight schedule showed.
No one was hurt in the incident, but nine people, all teenagers, were sent to hospital after suffering breathing problems, Daegu fire officials said.
“I thought the plane was going to explode …. It looked like the passengers next to the open door were unconscious,” an unidentified 44-year-old passenger told South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency.
The passenger said the cabin crew had made an announcement on the plane asking if there was a doctor on board.
Asiana Airlines flight OZ8124 had 194 people on board, including 38 elementary and junior high school students, Yonhap News Agency reported.
A televised video, reportedly shot by a passenger, shows moments before landing, with the doors open and the wind blowing in as passengers sit nearby.
The Ministry of Transport said in a statement that the police had taken into custody the man who opened the door and authorities were investigating violations of aviation safety laws.
The minister did not say why he opened the door.
A Transport Ministry official told Reuters authorities were checking whether Asiana Airlines had followed protocols for managing emergency exits.
The official said that there is a possibility that the emergency exit can be disarmed on the ground when the pressure inside and outside the cabin is the same.
The plane was two or three minutes from landing when a male passenger sitting next to the emergency door opened the flap and pulled the lever to open the door about 200 meters above the ground, an Asiana spokesman said.
Everyone on board was wearing seat belts as the plane was about to land, the spokesman said.
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