[News Today] Passenger opens plane door

[LEAD]
A terrifying incident unfolded at Jeju Airport on Tuesday, just moments before takeoff. A passenger aboard an Air Seoul flight suddenly opened the aircraft’s emergency exit. Amid a string of similar incidents, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport has announced plans to conduct security inspections on aircraft.

[REPORT]
An Air Seoul flight that was rolling onto the runway for takeoff suddenly stops.

Then it releases an emergency exit slide.

Inside the plane, a passenger, a woman in her 30s, had suddenly run toward the emergency exit and opened it.

Passenger on board /
I think she was on the phone. Then suddenly started swearing and went toward the cockpit and pulled the door open.

Startled by what happened, some of the 200 passengers on board screamed, and terror filled the cabin.

We again apologize for the commotion cause during flight.

Flight attendants and other passengers held back the woman who opened the door. She was arrested and handed over to airport police on charges of violating the Aviation Security Act.

The woman told authorities that claustrophobia caused her to open the exit.

The aircraft which could not move because of the released exit slide was towed to a parking ramp two hours later and the schedules of subsequent Air Seoul flights were all affected.

Kim Jung-on / Passenger on board
The airline didn't tell us what to do. The next flight is 2-3 times more expensive. My whole schedule is ruined. I'm so mad at this.

A passenger who opened the emergency exit on an Asiana Airlines flight during landing at Daegu Airport in 2023 was handed a three year prison sentence suspended for five years. But similar incidents continue to occur.

The transport ministry will inspect flight security systems including access controls to emergency exits.

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