Of all the irresponsible things to do during a plane flight, opening the emergency exit while the aeroplane is up in the air would be near the top. The incident, which took place on a routine Asiana Airlines flight from Jeju Island en route to Daegu on May 26, 2023, saw a 33-year-old man prematurely opening an emergency door 850 feet above ground, which left the 194 passengers onboard suffering from breathing difficulties due to the severe drop in pressure. Recently, shocking footage of the occurrence was shared to Reddit.
While nine passengers had to be rushed to hospital immediately after landing due to sustaining respiratory problems, no one thankfully died during the incident. The man who opened the door, however, was arrested at the scene and was later sentenced to three years in prison for the reckless act. Additionally, the passenger was also instructed to carry out mental health treatment.
In Seoul, South Korea on September 5, 2024, the passenger was also ordered to pay 727 million won (approximately $600,000) in damages to the airline operator. According to The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the estimated property damage caused by the incident was around 640 million won (approximately $475,000), which was largely caused by the damage to the aircraft’s escape slide.
Soon, comments began flooding in as the internet scrutinised the shocking footage. Many reactions were surprised at how short the prison sentence was for such a dangerous and thoughtless act, with one commenter declaring, “How is this 10 years in prison. To me this feels like 150 counts of attempted [expletive] and a lot of other stuff…“
Other comments were surprised that the man who opened the door survived. “How did dude not get sucked out when he opened the door?” one netizen asked. In regards to this query, some other Redditors added some context, which explained how the flight was beginning its landing procedure when the incident occurred. “It was during landing. The pressure difference isn’t as extreme. In fact if he was at cruising altitude, he wouldn’t be able to open it at all.” one helpful user clarified.
The passenger who opened the door was allegedly traveling alone. Meanwhile, South Korean police have not given an official reason as to why he carried out such an unsafe act.
