IndiGo passenger accidentally opened plane's emergency exit in Dec; aircraft took off from Chennai after check

Opposition Congress targeted Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, amid reports that the passenger, who accidentally opened the emergency exit of the plane was the BJP Yuva Morcha chief.

Bengaluru, Jan 17: A passenger accidentally opened the emergency exit of an IndiGo plane after boarding at Chennai airport last month and the aircraft, which was on the ground, was subject to mandatory engineering checks before it flew to Tiruchirapalli.

On Tuesday, Opposition Congress targeted Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya, amid reports that the passenger, who accidentally opened the emergency exit of the plane was the BJP Yuva Morcha chief.

It has also questioned as to why the government hid the incident so long. Neither Surya nor his office have reacted to the allegations so far.

In a statement on Tuesday, IndiGo said a passenger travelling on flight 6E 7339 from Chennai to Tiruchirapalli on Dec 10, 2022, accidentally opened the emergency exit during the boarding process. "The passenger immediately apologised for the action. As per SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures), the incident was logged and the aircraft underwent mandatory engineering checks, which led to a delay in the flight's departure," it said.

The airline declined to comment about the identity of the passenger.

A senior official at aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday said the event was duly reported and that no safety was compromised.

According to the official, it appears that by mistake, the Right Hand emergency exit got opened by a passenger while the aircraft was on ground.

"The crew took note and resultantly, all appropriate airworthiness action such as reinstalling of door, pressurization check etc were carried out before the release of the aircraft for departure. No safety was compromised," the official added.