Chinese passenger opens plane door for

fresh air
Man who opened emergency exit as plane was about to take off did not realise the danger,
airline staff say
Tania Branigan in Beijing
Thursday 18 December 2014 04.19GMT

A Chinese airline passenger pulled open an emergency exit as his plane was about to
take off because he just wanted fresh air, Chinese media have reported.
The man had not realised that opening the door was dangerous, staff members said.
The safety scare on Sunday came days after a passenger on another domestic flight
opened the emergency exit moments after his plane landed - deploying the shute saying that he was in a hurry to get off.
There is growing concern in China that the behaviour of travellers, particularly those
venturing overseas, is damaging the image of the country.
An AirAsia flight from Bangkok to Nanjing had to return to Thailand last week after an
angry Chinese passenger threw scalding water at a flight attendant.
But Sundays incident, on a Xiamen Air flight from Hangzhou to Chengdu, seems to
have been an innocent mistake by a first-time flier. Startled fellow passengers took
shots of the incident on their mobile phones, later posting them on social media.
I have been flying so many years, and it is the first time that Ive seen someone open
the emergency exit, one wrote, according to the Zhejiang Online website.
No slide was used because the door was above a wing on the Boeing 737-800 and
maintenance workers were able to fix the problem in time for the flight to take off
punctually.
It was the first time he had flown, an airline press officer told the Southern
Metropolis Daily newspaper.
He did not cause delays or any other direct losses to the airline.
The spokesperson added: There are warnings on the emergency exit and there are
instructions on how to open the exit in case of emergency. However, the passenger
didnt do it deliberately.

The cabin crew explained the danger to the man, in his 50s, and changed his seat
before the flight took off.
The airline has no authority to hand out punishment and did not ask the airport
police to do so since the man had not done any damage and had not acted
maliciously, the press officer added.
It is unclear whether the man involved in last weeks incident with the shute was
punished. Staff at China Eastern Airlines told reporters that the incident on the Xian
to Sanya flight delayed the planes next take-off by two hours.
An unnamed expert told the official China News Service that the airline might also
have to spend over 100,000 yuan [10,340] checking and maintaining the emergency
slide and cabin door.

Topics
China Air transport Asia Pacific
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