Panic gripped a Hyderabad-Delhi Indigo flight after a 40-year-old passenger opened the cover of the emergency exit door while the aircraft was taking off. The incident happened on July 8.
The man was handed over to security authorities after the flight landed at the Delhi airport. An FIR has been filed against the individual.
The unruly behaviour of the flyer caused panic among other passengers, crew and the pilot-in-command, the sources said.
The passenger was in seat 18A which was close to the emergency exit door. After the incident, the cover of the emergency exit was immediately restored and the passenger was relocated to another seat in the aircraft, they added.
Query sent to IndiGo seeking comments on the incident remained unanswered.
According to safety experts, the handle of the emergency exit door has a cover which protects it from opening due to cabin pressure or any other accidental reasons.
"If the cover is removed, then the handle is bare open and it can open while landing due to any reason and it is hazardous for the aircraft," SS Panesar, former Director of Flight Safety at erstwhile Indian Airlines, said.
A crew member from an airline told PTI that the emergency exit cover is such that it cannot open by mistake.
"You have to pull it out and it needs effort. It is only out of mischief that someone can do that," the crew member said on the condition of anonymity.
"Passengers who are allocated seats closer to the emergency exit are told categorically that they should not fiddle with the cover or handle.
If any passenger does it, it is clearly out of some mischief. It comes under the definition of unruly behaviour because it endangers the aircraft," the crew member said.
The sources said that based on a complaint filed by the airline, Delhi police has registered an FIR against the individual.
The police has invoked Section 336 of the Indian Penal Code that deals with endangering the personal safety of others and Section 22 of Aircraft Rules for refusing to follow a lawful instruction given by the pilot-in-command or crew of an aircraft, they said.
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