Chinese passenger pulls open escape hatch to get some fresh air while waiting on ‘stuffy’ plane
Passenger locked up and fined over US$10,000 after tearing open escape hatch and triggering inflatable slide
A Chinese man has been detained after he opened the emergency exit on a plane while he was waiting to disembark because he felt stuffy, according to a news portal
The man, identified only by his surname Chen, was waiting to leave the flight at Mianyang airport in the southwestern province of Sichuan when he decided he could do with some fresh air, Thepaper.cn reported on Monday.
Unfortunately for him, the handle he pulled was attached to the emergency exit and not only did the hatch come free from the plane, but it also activated the escape slide.
Chen, 25, who was returning from the island of Hainan, insisted he did not know that it was an escape route, adding: “Because it was so stuffy, so hot on the plane, I just pushed down on the window handle beside me. When the door fell out, I panicked.”
The crew alerted police and he was detained for 15 days for the unauthorised removal of aviation facilities. He will also be fined 70,000 yuan (US$11,000) to cover the airline’s costs.
