A passenger on an Air Asia flight on Saturday panicked and tried to run and exit from the emergency exit.
The flight from Miri to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia was delayed an hour and was taxiing down the runway when the male passenger apparently changed his mind and opened the exit door to run out.
Environment Department chief, Siva Nathiran, told Malaysia's leading English-language newspaper, The Star, "The raft automatically opened when the door was opened. The passengers inside the aircraft started screaming. The flight attendants immediately alerted the pilots and the plane was stopped in its track."
The plane was then delayed again, along with other outbound flights. The passenger has only been identified as Chong thus far. He is believed to be a 24-year-old off duty crew member and his motives are still unclear.
A witness told the Asia News Network that the man suddenly opened the emergency doors and jumped from the jet as it made its way to the runway where the raft automatically opened.
Air Asia's regional head of flight operations Captain Datuk Mazputra said "There were no injuries and the passenger was arrested," to Asia News Network.
This is not the first incident of passengers tampering with emergency doors on planes.
In May 2011 a passenger tried to open the emergency exit of a plane when it was in-flight to Boston. In September of 2011 a passenger who was on a Thomson Airlines flight tried to open the planes emergency doors just 45 minutes after takeout. In February of 2012 a male passenger also tried to open an emergency exit to help out a mother with a crying child.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
