A passenger aboard a Xiamen Airlines flight is among the seemingly growing list of people who are not aware of safety protocols when boarding an airplane.
As a result, the passenger delayed her flight’s departure when she opened the emergency exit door of the aircraft because she reportedly wanted a “breath of fresh air.”
Video footage that has now gone viral with more than 18 million views, captured the woman on the flight opening the plane door because it was “too stuffy,” as reported in the Express.
According to the cabin crew on flight MF 8215, the incident happened on 23 September towards the end of boarding at Wuhan Tianhe International Airport.
The passenger had been warned by flight attendants not to touch the lever on the emergency exit near her seat but she clearly didn’t listen.
After she opened the emergency door, police were called, forcing flight crew and other passengers bound for the city of Lanzhou, capital of China’s north-western province of Gansu, to wait in the aircraft, delaying the flight for one hour.
When authorities arrived, the passenger was arrested.
According to the South China Morning Post, the woman will likely have to pay a fine for her actions, as opening the emergency exit on a plane is classified as disturbing public order. Wuhan airport police have yet to release her name or age and it is unclear whether she faces an indefinite travel ban for the move.
The latest incident is among the increasing trend of passengers attempting to open a plane’s door.
Earlier this year, passengers aboard a Pakistan International Airlines Flight 702 were delayed by seven hours in Manchester, England after another passenger ignored the seatbelt sign and ran to what she thought was the lavatory.
Instead, she opened the emergency exit door while all the doors were armed, which signaled the emergency evacuation slides to deploy automatically.
And in New York City, a Delta Airlines pilot was forced to make an emergency landing at New York’s LaGuardia Airport after a passenger tried to yank open the plane’s door mid-flight.
