Shocking moment plane passenger opens emergency exit door because he 'wanted to get some fresh air'

Daily Mail​

14-05-2025

A China Eastern Airline flight turned chaotic upon landing when a passenger suddenly opened an emergency exit - claiming he wanted 'to get some fresh air.'
Footage shows the aftermath of the random act, which saw a male passenger yank the emergency handle before deploying the evacuation slide on flight MU5828, which was still taxiing on the runway as it arrived in Kunming from Changsha on 11 May.
According to witnesses, the man appeared calm, but had told others he opened the door to get a breath of fresh air.
But his bizarre actions reportedly caused chaos in the cabin, and passengers were prevented from disembarking the plan for around 20 minutes as crew members dealt with the situation.
Though no one was hurt, the suspect, described as a young male, was escorted off the plane by police for further questioning, as reported by NeedToKnow.
The flight took off from Changsha, China, and arrived at Kunming Changshui International Airport at around 8.42am on 11 May.
In China, opening an emergency door on a plane can come with a steep fine - anywhere from £10,482 to over £20,000, depending on the aircraft and circumstances.
In March 2022, a China eastern Airlines flight was involved in the third-deadliest aviation accident in the country's history.
The domestic flight took off from Kunming Changshui International Airport bound for Guangzhou, but crashed on route, killing all 132 passengers and crew onboard.
But this week's emergency door drama isn't the only bizarre incident to have occurred in the skies lately.
Earlier this year, a United flight bound for Shanghai was diverted back to California three hours into the trip because the pilot forgot their passport.
In March, UA Flight 198 left Los Angeles International Airport at 1:44 pm PDT and was scheduled to land at Shanghai Pudong International about 14 hours later until the pilot discovered his disastrous mistake.
The flight was then diverted back to California and landed in San Francisco just after 5 pm, per flight logs tracked on Flight Aware.
Passengers on the Boeing aircraft 787-9 then finally took off for Shanghai around 9 pm and arrived just after 12:30am local time.
United arranged for a new crew to take the 257 passengers to Shanghai and provided them with meal vouchers and compensation for the inconvenience, the media representative said.
The flight eventually landed at its destination six hours behind schedule, which impacted some of the passengers' plans.
One passenger, who was flying for business, told CNN, that they had to reschedule their plans for Monday after the significant delay.
A second traveler said they had to drive another two hours after landing in Shanghai, leaving them exhausted.
Yang Shuhan, another traveler on the flight, said that the pilot announced his embarrassing mistake over the intercom and sounded 'very frustrated'.
Yang told CNN that she received two meal vouchers totaling $30 to use for a meal at the San Francisco airport.