Asiana Airlines said it will no longer allow passengers to take certain seats in the emergency exit row on its Airbus A321 aircraft after a passenger managed to open the door while the car was still in the air last Friday.
After an incident on board a flight from Jeju to Daegu, the carrier promised to block the seats next to the emergency exit door where there is no flight attendant. In total, “Asiana” 14 Airbus A321-200 airliners.
According to the representatives of the airline, problem areas will be blocked, even if the flight is booked to failure, but the rest of the seats in the “emergency” rows will continue to be sold and occupied by passengers.
Asiana operates the A321-200 in several seat configurations. Thus, the affected aircraft has four sets of doors, and only one of these eight doors does not have a seat for a stewardess nearby.
At the end of last week, an intruder aged about 30 managed to open the door when the plane was only 200&ndash ;250 meters above the ground. He has already been charged with violating the aviation security law, and if found guilty, he will be sent to prison for up to 10 years.
To prevent passengers from accidentally opening the door, the emergency exit is equipped with a cover that protects the control handle. True, it is easily removed.
In the event of an emergency, the middle doors are driven by an electric motor, which greatly facilitates the opening of the door in flight at low altitude and in the absence of a pressure drop outside.
The man told police that he was allegedly under a lot of stress after losing his job recently and wanted to get off the plane as soon as possible. The local court issued a warrant for his arrest.
The seats immediately adjacent to the emergency exits on other aircraft remain for sale and may be occupied – one of the flight attendants is located in the immediate vicinity of these exits.
< p>Low-cost carrier Air Seoul has also confirmed that it will restrict access to certain emergency exits on its A321 aircraft, while Air Premia and Jin Air are only considering the need for such measures.
South Korean aviation authorities stated that the decision to block certain places was made by the airlines themselves.