The incident occurred at around 9 p.m. on February 7 on Thai Airways flight TG121 from Chiang Mai to Bangkok. As the Airbus A320 was waiting to take off, a male passenger rushed toward the emergency exit and opened it, causing the slide to deploy, Ronnakorn Chalermsaenyakorn, director of Chiang Mai International Airport, said late on February 8.
The male passenger was subdued and handed over to police. Thai authorities identified him as Wong Sai Heung, 40, a Canadian citizen. Police said Wong described himself as a computer engineer who suffered from panic disorder. He felt he was being followed by a secret organization and feared being attacked, so he opened the plane door so he could jump out.
“The whole plane went into chaos,” passenger Ananya Tiangtae wrote on Facebook. “What if we were at 30,000 feet?”
Thai Airways plane deploys emergency slide after passenger opens emergency exit. Photo: Thairath
Thai Airways technicians had to remove the emergency slide and pull the plane back to its parking position, Ronnakorn said. A total of 13 flights were affected by the incident, with eight planes having to circle before being allowed to land.
After being checked and cleared, the plane was allowed to depart, about three hours later than originally planned, Thai Airways said.
Nattawut Noisorn, deputy investigator of Phu Ping Ratchaniwet police station, Chiang Mai, said on February 9 that Wong faces two charges of failing to comply with instructions from a flight attendant and endangering others.
Police are trying to determine whether Wong was under the influence of drugs before boarding the plane or had a mental health condition. Police have taken Wong to a psychiatric hospital for evaluation.
Nhu Tam (According to AFP, Reuters, The Nation )
Source link
Comment (0)