Chinese Passengers open plane door ahead of take off

Passengers on a flight to Beijing yanked opened three emergency exit doors just moments before take-off after becoming irritated at delays caused by snow.

Upset by a delayed flight, at least two Chinese passengers decided to open emergency exit doors in protest as the plane was taxiing, forcing it to abort take-off and landing them in jail instead, police said yesterday.

The latest in a growing number of air rage cases involving Chinese travellers happened in the early hours of yesterday morning in the south-western city of Chengdu, after the China Eastern flight was delayed by a snow storm.

Angry passengers complained about the delay and a lack of ventilation, and a man surnamed Zhou opened three emergency exits to prevent the plane from taking off, forcing it to return to the gate, according to state broadcaster China Central Television.

Twenty-five passengers were held for questioning while the rest continued on to Beijing on a separate flight.

Kunming police said in an online statement that Zhou and a tour guide named Li had been placed under 15-day “administrative detention” for opening the doors and inciting passengers with false information.

The ventilation system had been turned off for 30 minutes during de-icing work to prevent fumes from entering the cabin, a maintenance engineer said. Although the co-pilot had explained the situation, passengers remained irate even after the plane left the gate, reports said.

Agencies/Canadajournal