A monk’s curiosity delayed an Air India (AI) Kolkata-Yangon flight by more than seven hours on Monday. The monk accidentally pressed the emergency exit button in the plane while it was taxiing for take-off. Although there was no untoward incident, the pilot aborted take-off and flight IC 727 had to undergo a security drill to ensure that there was nothing wrong with the plane.
An AI official from Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose international airport, Kolkata, said the flight was to take off at 10.10am after all 139 passengers boarded the plane. The official said that the monk, seated near one of the emergency exits over the wing side, pressed the latch and the door opened.
When the door opened, the alarm went off in the cockpit and the captain immediately stopped the aircraft, the official explained. The pilot informed air traffic control that he had aborted take-off and all the passengers were deplaned and a security drill was carried out. According to sources, a passenger who is seated near the emergency exit has to be guided by airline crew on safety precautions.
An AI spokesperson claimed the incident occurred when the aircraft was stationary. The plane left for Yangon at 5.05pm, he said.
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