Witness: Inside the cabin as the plane door opened mid-flight
A man has been arrested for opening the door of an Asiana Airlines plane as it was landing in South Korea.
All 194 people on board survived the flight, which landed safely but its door remained open at Daegu International Airport on Friday.
Local media reported that some of the passengers fainted while others suffered from breathing problems and were taken to hospital.
Yonhap news agency reported that the man, in his 30s, said he felt suffocated and wanted to get off quickly.
Police said the man claimed during his interrogation that he was stressed after losing his job, according to the report.
Flight OZ8124, an Airbus A321-200, took off from Jeju Island on Friday around 11:45 local time (03:45 GMT).
When it was landing about an hour later, a passenger opened the emergency door while the plane was still 250 meters off the ground.
A passenger video shared on social media shows a gaping hole in the left side of the plane and winds pounding the rows of seated passengers.
Eyewitnesses told local media that the flight attendants were unable to stop him because the plane was about to land.
They said the man also tried to jump out of the plane after opening the door.
Passengers described panic on board.
“It was chaos as people near the door seemed to faint one by one, and the flight attendants were calling out to the doctors on board through radio broadcasts,” a 44-year-old passenger told Yonhap News Agency.
“I thought the plane was going to explode. I thought I was going to die like this,” he added.
An Asiana Airlines plane landed in Daegu with its door open
Several school-age children were also on board, on their way to a sporting event that weekend.
“The children were shaking, crying and afraid,” the mother of one of the students told Yonhap.
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