Adding to the list of super bizarre and dangerous incidents on a flight, a first-time flier opened the emergency gates of a GoAir flight mistakenly. The flight was taxiing on the runway when this incident happened. The 24-year-old carpenter boarded a flight from Bengaluru to Lucknow, his hometown. He was flying for the very first time.
Though the flight attendants have read and acted out the safety instructions, Sunil Kumar mistook the emergency exit of the plane for a window. He pulled the lever to open the door causing a panic on the aircraft, reports TNM.
“I saw him touching the gate [door] and by the time I reacted, he had pulled the lever and the gate was open when the flight was taxiing,” a passenger seated close to Sunil said.
The pilot immediately stopped the plane. They grounded the aircraft and also de-boarded all 171 passengers onboard. Sunil was taken to the airport police station where a case was registered against him. He was, however, freed after a few hours over warning. Other passengers boarded a different plane which took off two hours later.
GoAir spokesperson said that the flight attendants gave Kumar a complete briefing about the safety instructions twice in Hindi as he told the flight attendants that he was comfortable conversing in Hindi than English.
“Despite the briefing, Kumar opened the emergency exit window immediately after the flight pushback. The incident occurred near the taxi out point at 8.12am. This caused a commotion, and the pilot immediately halted the aircraft,” the spokesperson said.
A similar incident happened in a Delhi-Patna GoAir flight last year where a first-time flier on mistook the emergency gate for lavatory gate and tried to open it in mid-air. Luckily, the door did not open due to air pressure and the plane escaped a disaster!
Seeing as such recurring incidences stem from lack of knowledge; passengers should ensure they listen to the safety instructions carefully to avoid such dangerous incidents.