Flying for the first time: Man tries to open flight door in full flight

A passenger has caused panic on an airplane when he tried to open the aircraft’s outer door during a flight. In his own words he thought he had the toilet door fixed. The incident happened last Saturday on a domestic flight from the Indian airline GoAir, from Delhi to Patna.

“A fellow passenger was alarmed and the crew intercepted the man”, says GoAir in a statement. According to the Indian media, the man is late twenties and he flew for the first time.

When fellow passengers asked him what he was doing, the man said that he “urgently needed the toilet” while he continued to fiddle at the outer door. According to eyewitnesses, total chaos and confusion existed for a short time, until the man could be led away from the outer door. After the flight, which finally arrived safely at the destination, he was handed over to the authorities, who started an investigation.

The man himself says that he was on a plane for the first time in his life and that it was a mistake. According to a GoAir spokesman, the man would not have been able to open the door anyway because of the air pressure in the aircraft.

The aviation sector in India has exploded in the last decade by the growing middle class, which benefits from the better connections and relatively cheap flights. Many passengers from this group fly for the first time.

Source: AFP, New Indian Express, Twitter