Asiana Airlines, South Korea’s second-biggest carrier, said on Sunday it has stopped selling some emergency seats on its A321-200 passenger jet after a recent incident in which a passenger asked for the same plane model just before landing. The door was opened. Asiana Airlines has suspended the sale of 11 A321-200s with 26A seats, which can seat 174 passengers, and three A321-200s with 31A seats, which can seat 195 passengers, the company said in a statement. Without providing a specific time frame for the suspension, the statement said that seats immediately adjacent to the emergency doors in the A321-200 would be excluded for reservation, even though all seats on the planes are occupied, Yonhap news agency reported. Be fully booked.
The incident occurred on Friday on an A321-200 aircraft en route from the southern island of Jeju to the city of Daegu, 237 km southeast of Seoul. A person sitting in the emergency seat row opened the door when the 195-seat A321-200 plane was about 213 meters from the ground just before landing at Daegu International Airport.
None of the 194 people on board fell out or were hurt in Friday’s incident, but 12 panicked passengers showed signs of difficulty breathing and some of them were taken to hospital. A court issued an arrest warrant for Lee on Sunday for alleged violations of the Aviation Safety Act, citing the seriousness of his case and the risk of flying.
Under the Act, a passenger who operates doors, emergency exits or instruments of an airplane can be jailed for up to 10 years. According to police officials, during interrogation, the man said that he was under a lot of stress after losing his job recently and opened the door as he wanted to get off quickly after feeling suffocated.
The company also began accepting customer complaints over the incident at its Flight Irregularity Claim Center at Daegu Airport. The company said that it has so far received two complaints regarding the plane crash. Meanwhile, all emergency seats on other passenger jets operated by Asiana are available for reservation.
Air Busan, another Asiana low-cost carrier, said it is also considering stopping the sale of emergency row seats. Budget carrier Air Premia said it is considering suspending the sale of seats near emergency doors. Other carriers, such as Jin Air Co., the budget carrier unit of Korean Air Co., are considering a similar move.
The transport ministry said that taking such a measure depends on the airlines’ own decisions and is not based on the rules of the aviation authorities. An airline company official said Asiana is overreacting to the incident, noting that passengers in emergency seat rows are required to assist flight attendants to help other passengers escape the plane in an emergency. it occurs.