On the morning of the 15th, around 8:15 a.m., a female passenger opened the emergency exit door without permission on the AIR SEOUL flight RS902, which was preparing to take off from Jeju Airport bound for Gimpo. This led to the cancellation of the flight.
This passenger reportedly opened the door because she was "feeling stifled."
At the time, the aircraft was moving to the runway via the taxiway, but it became immobilized after the emergency escape slide deployed, and it was towed back to the parking area before being canceled.
All of the more than 100 passengers on this flight will disembark and use other flights.
With RS902 unable to operate, the same aircraft was used for the follow-up flight RS903 from Gimpo to Jeju, which was also canceled.
Airport authorities are investigating the exact circumstances of the incident.
Earlier, in May 2023, an incident occurred when a passenger opened the emergency door just before landing on an Asiana Airlines flight from Jeju to Daegu, which had 194 passengers on board. This passenger was sentenced to 3 years in prison with 5 years of probation for violations of aviation security laws in the appellate trial.