An Asiana Airlines passenger says he thought he was going to die when his flight's emergency door was opened mid-flight
The Asiana Airlines flight was about 700 feet above the ground when the emergency exit door was opened, causing panic to ensue.
Yonhap via REUTERS
- A man who sat next to the person accused of opening a door on an Asiana Airlines flight feared for his life.
- Lee Yoon-Joon told South Korea's Yonhap News Agency that he wondered whether he would die.
- The flight was about 700 feet above the ground when the emergency exit door was opened.
A man who sat next to the Asiana Airlines passenger accused of opening the plane's emergency exit door during a terrifying caught-on-camera ordeal shortly before the aircraft landed in South Korea said he feared for his life.
Lee Yoon-Joon spoke out about last week's in-flight incident to South Korea's Yonhap News Agency, saying that he "thought, am I going to die?" according to a translation by ABC's "Good Morning America."
In now-viral cell phone footage of the incident, Lee can be seen aboard the Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 wearing red pants and sitting back in his seat as the wind violently roars through the plane from the open door.
Lee said that once he realized the man accused of opening the door was holding it open, he sprang into action and "held him with bare hands" while struggling to breathe, according to "Good Morning America."
—Good Morning America (@GMA) May 30, 2023
Additionally, Lee told Yonhap News Agency that the suspect kept making eye contact with him before the horrific incident.
An Asiana Airlines representative told CNN that the flight was about 700 feet above the ground when the emergency exit door was opened, causing panic to ensue.
An arrest warrant was issued by a South Korean court for the man suspected of opening up the door, according to Reuters.
The suspect said that he opened the plane door because he wanted to quickly get off the aircraft, Reuters reported.
"I feel really sorry for the kids," the man told reporters as he was escorted to the court in the South Korean city of Daegu for a hearing over the weekend, according to the news outlet.