Over Thanksgiving weekend, a Southwest Airlines (LUV) -) passenger became the subject of headlines after opening the exit door on a Boeing 737 (BA) -) plane that was about to take off from Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport, jumping down from one of the wings and then attempting to escape in a service truck on the tarmac.
The traveler was promptly restrained and taken to the nearby hospital for evaluation — as he was found to be in the midst of a "mental health emergency" and not in possession of any weapons, he was not given any criminal charges.
Related: Another flight had turbulence so severe it caused injuries
While the aviation world's news cycle was dominated by this incident, a similar situation took place around the same time on a Korean Air flight heading from New York's John F. Kennedy Airport to Seoul's Incheon International Airport on Nov. 23.
'The attempt was stopped by our crew members,' airline says
As first reported by Korea JoongAng Daily, a 26-year-old woman tried to open the plane's exit door approximately 10 hours into the nearly 16-hour flight to South Korea. Flight crew stopped her in this attempt before she could succeed while some of the witnesses on the plane later described her as displaying symptoms of severe anxiety.
More Travel:
- A new travel term is taking over the internet (and reaching airlines and hotels)
- The 10 best airline stocks to buy now
- Airlines see a new kind of traveler at the front of the plane
"The attempt was stopped by our crew members, and the passenger was arrested by the airport police upon arrival," Korean Air spokeswoman Jill Seungwon Chung said in a statement to media outlets.
Upon landing, the woman was arrested by Incheon International Airport Police Corps. She tested positive for meth and could face as many as 10 years in prison and a fine of $77,000 — she is a South Korean citizen coming home after spending six months in New York.
Passengers keep trying to open plane doors; here's how the industry is addressing the problem
South Korean airlines, in particular, has struggled with an increase in passengers attempting to open the plane's doors. Back in May, a passenger aboard a flight on the Seoul-based Asiana Airlines caused the injury of 12 others after opening the exit door of the Airbus A321 (EADSF) -) just two minutes before it was supposed to land on the southern island of Jeju.
The man was eventually arrested and charged with violating the country's aviation security laws but 12 of the passengers aboard the plane had to be hospitalized for breathing problems caused by air getting into the cabin before it landed.
Last month, a South Korean teenager was sentenced to three years in prison and 40 hours of drug addiction treatment after trying and failing to open the exit door on a Jeju Air flight from the Philippines to Seoul.
After the most recent Korean Air incident, the South Korean government moved fast to draft a new law requiring airlines to warn passengers about not opening plane doors. The "draft amendment of the operating guideline for airline operators" is currently under discussion by lawmakers and could be proposed to the public as early as Dec. 14. More details about whether this will apply exclusively to South Korean airlines or any aircraft flying out of the country are expected to emerge then.
