Scindia says IndiGo flight emergency exit was opened by mistake

New Delhi: Amid the confusion surrounding the opening of an emergency exit on an IndiGo flight, Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia confirmed on Wednesday that the door was opened last month “by mistake”, and the person who opened it has apologised.

IndiGo had said on Tuesday that a passenger accidentally opened the emergency exit of a plane at the Chennai airport on December 10. The passenger had apologised, said the airlines.

While the airline did not name the passenger, few opposition parties have reacted on the matter, claiming that the person responsible for the act was BJP MP from Bengaluru South, Tejasvi Surya.

Without naming Surya, the Civil Aviation Minister on Wednesday confirmed that the passenger who by mistake opened the emergency exit, leading to a two-hour delay of the flight, has apologised for his act.

“I won’t respond to what the opposition is saying. It’s important to look at the facts. The door was opened by him by mistake when the flight was on the ground and after all checks, the flight was allowed to take off,” Scindia said.

According to a statement issued by IndiGo on Tuesday, 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 his action. As per SOPs, the incident was logged and the aircraft underwent mandatory engineering checks, which led to a delay in the flight’s departure,” said the airline.

“The event was duly reported. It appears that by mistake, the RH emergency exit got opened by a passenger while the aircraft was on the ground. The crew took note and resultantly, all appropriate airworthiness action such as reinstalling of door, pressurisation check etc. were carried out before the release of the aircraft for departure. No safety was compromised,” a senior DGCA official had said on Tuesday.