Rush to emergency exit lands Chinese first-time flier in detention
- Elderly man opens door in failed attempt to leave plane ahead of other passengers
- Arrested by police and locked up for 10 days
An elderly first-time flier was detained for 10 days in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang after he opened an emergency door to beat the queue leaving the plane.
The man, surnamed Song, had travelled with his family on a Shandong Airlines flight from Jinan in northern China to Putuo, southeast of Shanghai, on April 21.
According to Chinese news portal The Paper, he became impatient while waiting to disembark from the aircraft and decided to open the emergency exit next to his seat.
“I pulled this handle and opened it,” Song, 65, said in the video report, which included footage of the incident.
Chinese passenger fined and detained over airport slapping incident
He turned back when he saw there was no ladder to get down from the hatch and was soon surrounded by flight staff and airport security.
Putuo police arrested Song, who told them it was his first time travelling on a plane and he did not know he was not supposed to open the emergency exit, despite signs saying it was only to be used in emergencies.
Flight staff were able to close the exit without causing any delay to other passengers.
News of the incident was met with criticism from users on China’s Twitter-like Weibo service.
“He is not innocent at all. It doesn’t matter if it was his first time, flight staff would always remind passengers the emergency exit cannot be simply opened,” one commenter wrote. “Rushing to board and disembark, he didn’t care about the safety of others.”
