Dheeraj Malhotra, a 19-year-old passenger on the Air Deccan Mumbai-Delhi flight, got so frustrated with the delay that he opened the emergency exit door of the flight.
Air Deccan passenger opens emergency exit door in a fit of rage
Flight delays due to fog are driving people crazy. Dheeraj Malhotra, a 19-year-old passenger on the Air Deccan Mumbai-Delhi flight, got so frustrated with the delay that he opened the emergency exit door of the flight.
The Air Deccan 657 flight was slated for December 31. However, due to the delay owing to fog, it was rescheduled to 13:30 p.m. on January 1. The flight which finally took off at 18:40 p.m. had to be diverted back to the Mumbai airport as the Delhi airport had to be closed down again.
“We had to get the plane back to Mumbai airport as half-an-hour after flying, the pilots received information that it was not possible for the flight to land in Delhi. The passengers refused to deplane. Staff from airport services was called to make them believe that there was no other way out. Amid the conversation, the airport services saw a passenger opening the emergency exit door near the wing of the aircraft,” said official spokesperson Air Deccan.
A case was registered at the airport police station, Santacruz. The charges pressed against the passenger are section 336 and 447 for damaging the property. However, he was later released on a bail of Rs 5000, said police sources.
The police said the passenger acted in the weird manner because of the frustration over the delay of the flight. “The insane act has cost us a damage of $20,000. This is because as the emergency exit door opens the escape slide inflates. We will now have to deflate it, cut it and then replace it. The aircraft A320 has to be grounded. With one Airbus flying six sectors, the damage is going to be huge,” the spokesperson added.
Meanwhile, though the runaway visibility at the New Delhi airport improved in the afternoon, passengers still have a tough time at the airports with no flights information coming their way. Even the flight information display board at the terminal 1A was flashing incorrect flight schedules.
“Passengers are not able to get correct information about the timings of the flight as the board has some technical problem which is ignored by the airport officials,” said airport sources.
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