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Varanasi: There was a major scare on an Akasa Air flight from Varanasi to Mumbai after a passenger attempted to open an emergency exit. Fortunately, the incident occurred while the plane was taxiing towards the runway.

“The incident took place on board flight QP 1497, which was scheduled to depart for Mumbai at 6.45 pm on Monday from Varanasi’s Lal Bahadur Shastri International Airport. As the aircraft was taxiing towards the runway, the passenger, Sujit Singh, attempted to open the emergency exit,” an official said.

Fortunately, a member of the cabin crew was nearby and restrained Singh. Following an alert from the cabin crew, the pilot informed the Air Traffic Control and took the aircraft back to the apron.

“Security personnel got the plane evacuated and took Singh into custody. He is a resident of Gaura Badshahpur in the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh. During preliminary questioning, he said that he had tried to open the door as he was curious. He has been booked,” the official added.

The flight was checked before other passengers were allowed to board. It took off for Mumbai around 7.45 am without further event.

Phoolpur police station SHO Praveen Kumar Singh said that the man will be questioned further to try and ascertain whether he had other plans.

It was a narrow escape for the passengers and crew, aviation experts. Had Singh managed to open the door when the aircraft was at cruising altitude, there could have been disaster.

“Thanks to initiatives like UDAN and competitive air fares, there are a number of first-time flyers on flights nowadays. Maybe, the pr-takeoff announcements should include warnings against such activity. A profiling may also be done to ensure that first-time flyers are not allotted seats next to emergency exits,” a pilot said.