▲ A teenager accused of attempting to open a plane door mid-flight enters the Incheon District Court in Incheon, west of Seoul, on June 20, 2023, to attend his arrest warrant hearing. (Yonhap)

plane door suspect-arrest warrant

Arrest warrant requested for teenager over attempt to open plane door mid-flight

INCHEON, June 20 (Yonhap) -- Police on Tuesday sought an arrest warrant for a teenager who attempted to open a plane door on a Jeju Air flight the previous day.

The 19-year-old, whose identity was withheld, was detained Monday after unsuccessfully trying to force open the emergency door of the Jeju Air flight which was heading to Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, earlier in the day from Cebu, the Philippines, with about 180 passengers on board.

The Incheon International Airport Police Corps charged him with breaching the Aviation Security Act.

According to police, the suspect began behaving strangely and attempted to open the emergency door at around 5:30 a.m., about an hour after takeoff. He was restrained by flight attendants and passengers before being handed over to the Incheon airport police afterward.

The emergency exit did not open due to air pressure difference and the plane's safety system, and no one was hurt in the incident.

The suspect had reportedly dropped out of high school and was on his way home after staying in Cebu alone for about a month, police said.

During questioning, he did not confess to a clear motive for the crime and asked investigators irrelevant questions, like "how many life vests are there on an airplane?" or "whether all flight attendants would be fired if the emergency door is opened." But police said he has no psychiatric treatment records.

The incident took place in less than a month since a man in his 30s forced open the emergency exit door on an Asiana Airlines flight en route to the southeastern city of Daegu from Jeju on May 26.

Teen passenger attempts to open plane door on flight[https://youtu.be/t-PDDK1YF24]

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