First-time flyer mistakes aircraft door for lavatory gate, tries to open it mid-air

PATNA: A first-time flyer created panic on GoAir’s Delhi-Patna flight last Saturday (September 22) when he mistook the Airbus A-320’s door to be the lavatory gate and tried to open it mid-air. Luckily, due to the air pressure difference he could not to do so and was handed over to security personnel after the plane with 150 passengers on board landed safely at its destination.The first time flyer was released later once the authorities were convinced he had made a genuine mistake.
A GoAir spokesman said: "A passenger on flight G8 149 Del-Pat was trying to open the rear door of the aircraft in air. A co-passenger raised an alarm and he was intercepted by the crew. Post arrival, the passenger was handed over to Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) for further investigation.”
Passengers on board said the man, in his late 20s who works in a leading private bank in Ajmer, got up from his seat and headed to the aircraft door. When he tried to open the gate, passengers started screaming and some of them quickly caught him firmly. Some got injured as he wrestled with them to open the door.
The passenger was handed over to the Patna airport police station by CISF personnel soon after the flight landed around 7.35 pm. According to CISF personnel, the man had successfully unlocked the rear gate but due to cabin pressure the door could not open.
During interrogation, the man said he had mistakenly tried to open the emergency gate. Airport police station SHO Md Sanowar Khan said the man was flying for the first time and claimed he had no clue that it was an emergency gate. “There was no ulterior motive behind his act,” he said. The man, whose family resides in the Kankarbagh area, was released from the police station after he signed a bond.