[imagesource:youtube/independent]

As an Asiana Airlines jet was coming in to land in Daegu, South Korea, on Friday afternoon, the plane door was opened midair.

Videos of the scene show the wind whipping through the plane’s cabin as terrified passengers grip their armrests for dear life.

It turns out some smartass decided to open the emergency door while the plane was about 213 metres above the ground and about two to three minutes from landing in the city 240 kilometres south of Seoul.

After confessing to opening the door, the man was arrested, although he would not say why he did what he did, reported CNN.

Despite the man in his 30s making a child-like mistake, the plane landed safely with all 200 people on board. Except a few of them walked away with minor injuries:

According to the Daegu Fire Department, 12 people suffered minor injuries from hyperventilation and nine of them have been sent to hospitals in Daegu.

Aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas of Airline Ratings described the incident as “very bizarre” because “technically, it’s not possible to open those doors in flight”:

Thomas noted that the landing speed of an A321 is about 150 knots (172 mph), meaning winds of that speed are passing the aircraft. The door, behind the wing of the aircraft, opened into that airstream, he said.

“It seems implausible that the door could be opened in the first place and then against the airstream technically impossible, but somehow or another it has happened,” Thomas said.

South Korea’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport said in a statement that police and the ministry are investigating the man over violation of aviation law and are checking the aircraft for any maintenance abnormalities.

[source:cnn]