The man, who is in his thirties and whose identity has not been revealed, opened the emergency door between 10 and 5 minutes before Asiana flight OZ8124, connecting Jeju Island with the airport, landed at its destination. from Daegu (about 240 kilometers southeast of Seoul).
The passenger, who remains detained, took advantage of the fact that the cabin staff had sat down and fastened their seatbelts to prepare for the landing to open the door when the plane was still flying at an altitude of more than 200 meters.
This caused panic among the occupants of the plane, as shown by videos taken by some passengers and shared on social networks.
The man initially refused to speak during questioning but eventually told authorities that he had been feeling very stressed lately after losing his job and was suddenly very overwhelmed inside the aircraft.
Police plan, once their preliminary questioning is complete, to request an arrest warrant for the man for violating the aviation safety law, which can carry penalties of up to 10 years in prison in South Korea.
None of the 194 passengers on board the plane were injured during landing but a dozen experienced hyperventilation and nine had to be hospitalized without serious prognosis.
