A bizarre incident occurred in China when a woman mistook an airplane’s emergency exit for a bathroom door, causing passengers to evacuate.
South China Morning Post reported on the 8th that Air China flight CA2754, scheduled to go from Zhejiang to Chengdu, had its emergency exit door opened due to a mistake by a female passenger.
The female passenger had never been on a plane before and had mistakenly opened the emergency door, thinking it was the restroom.
Opening the emergency door triggered the evacuation slide, which led to the flight getting canceled, requiring all passengers to disembark from the aircraft. The passengers were moved to a hotel and received compensation worth $65, and the female passenger was transferred to a hotel for a police investigation.
A passenger on the scene said, “When the evacuation slide popped out, even the flight attendants were shocked,” adding, “The female passenger shed tears when she heard she had to pay for damages.” The cost to open the emergency exit is known to be about $33,000.
The aircraft’s emergency exit is designed to open easily for quick operation in an emergency. However, the emergency evacuation slide deploys once opened, and the aircraft may be grounded for several days for maintenance.
Opening an airplane’s emergency door without permission in China is an illegal act that can lead to imprisonment. In June 2017, a passenger at Beijing airport accidentally opened the emergency exit and was detained for 12 days.
