A passenger on a flight from Varanasi to Mumbai was detained on Monday for allegedly trying to open the plane’s emergency exit door before take-off.
According to a report by news agency PTI, the incident took place on board Akasa Air flight QP 1497, which was scheduled to depart Varanasi for India’s financial capital at 6:45 pm.
As the plane taxied, the accused – an airman named Sujit Singh from Uttar Pradesh’s Jaunpur district – tried to open the emergency exit door.
However, the flight attendants caught Singh in the act and immediately alerted the pilot, who brought the aircraft back to the apron on instructions from Air Traffic Control (ATC).
Security personnel subsequently safely evacuated all passengers and took Singh into custody.
Speaking to PTI, Phoolpur Station House Officer (SHO) Praveen Kumar Singh said the passenger told investigators that the accused tried to open the emergency exit door “out of curiosity”.
Singh has been booked and is in custody for questioning.
After the chaos settled down, the rescheduled flight took off for Mumbai at around 7:45 pm after a security clearance.
