A spokesman for Asiana Airlines said, Friday, May 26, 2023, that a plane belonging to the company landed safely in the South Korean city of Daegu, after one of its doors was opened shortly before its arrival at the airport.
The plane landed at Daegu Airport at around 12:40 pm (03:40 GMT), after it left Jeju Island an hour earlier, according to the airport’s flight schedule. He was taken to the hospital for treatment for breathing problems due to shock, and added that the authorities are investigating the incident.
A Daegu fire department official said nine people were taken to a nearby hospital. “Police are investigating the incident after a passenger who was sitting near the emergency door said he touched the handle,” the official said.
Door of Asiana Airlines plane opens in mid-air just before landing in South Korea; 9 people taken to hospital with breathing difficulties pic.twitter.com/rUI6LTRihj
— BNO News (@BNONews) May 26, 2023
It is noteworthy that the door of the aircraft cannot be opened while it is in the sky, and opening one of the doors may cause the plane to fall, and the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says: “Precautions must be taken in the design to reduce the possibility of someone opening the door intentionally during the flight, and for this reason it operates Automatic door handles.
When the plane descends and heads towards the exit door, you can hear the pilot say “Doors to Manual”, that is, turning the doors to the manual opening position, only then can the pilot raise the control, and anyone can open the doors.
A man has been arrested for opening emergency door of an #AsianaAirlines flight during landing with its door still open at Daegu International Airport on Friday.
— Hamza Bayrak (@bayrakhamza_) May 26, 2023
All 194 passengers survived, but some had breathing problems. pic.twitter.com/ElSxtOYyum
Pilot Patrick Smith wrote on his AskThePilot blog that the doors can be opened upon landing, in case the aircraft needs to be evacuated.
Also, pressure is the only possible way for the plane to be able to fly above 10,000 meters without endangering the health of the crew and passengers, and the higher the altitude in the atmosphere, the lower the pressure on the oxygen molecules, so it is difficult for us to breathe. Which also explains why our ears clog up when we get on a plane.
