Man Arrested After Opening Emergency Exit On Plane To Get 'Fresh Air'

A 25-five-year old Chinese man was arrested by police after opening the emergency door of a plane. He told police he had been feeling hot and stuffy, and so decided to open the emergency door of the plane.

The emergency door of a plane is designed for emergencies, such as the very rare occurrence of a plane making a crash landing, sudden jazz, or the realisation that you are sharing a flying vehicle with someone who still uses the Crazy Frog ringtone and is playing it on repeat. It is not a window.

The plane was waiting to take-off from Mianyang Nanjiao Airport, in Sichuan Province, when Super Brains decided to open a window.

AsiaWire

I was on a plane yesterday. It was hot and stuffy. There was a crying baby (her ears popped, so fair enough) behind me and a man with sharp elbows. I nearly had a panic attack. I didn't try and open the emergency exit door.

The man, named only by his surname - Chen - was surprised to discover that instead of being greeted by sweet, sweet oxygen upon opening the exit, the entire 'wall' collapsed and an emergency slide was deployed.

At the current time, there are no reports of Chen at least being allowed to slide down it so that he could be arrested.

The young man claimed he had no idea the door was part of the emergency exit. As reported in Medium, he'll now spend 15 days behind bars and may be put on China's infamous travel blacklist, in addition to receiving a hefty fine.

AsiaWire

Under the proscription, nine million people have been banned from buying plane tickets and another three million from buying business-class tickets. The list was set up as a way of introducing a credit system into China's mixed free market and state controlled society.

Chen is not the only person to fall foul of the don't-open-the-emergency-exit-unless-it's-an-emergency-rule. In January of this year, a Polish man opened the emergency exit of a Ryanair flight following landing after a lengthy delay on the tarmac.

Fearing he would have an asthma attack, the man opened the door at Malaga Airport. He was threatened with a £40,000 fine, but it was later revealed that he was homeless, with no fixed abode.

Topics: World News, News, China

Ronan O'Shea

Ronan J O'Shea is a freelance journalist from London who has written for titles including LADbible, Headspace, The Independent, National Geographic Traveller and New York Post. Contact him at [email protected].