Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia on Wednesday admitted that BJP MP Tejasvi Surya accidentally opened the emergency exit of an IndiGo plane last month. The Minister said Surya himself reported and apologised for the incident.
The Minister’s admission comes against the backdrop of the Congress raking up the incident and identifying Surya, the ruling BJP’s Bengaluru South MP, as the culprit for the incident that happened on December 10 at Chennai airport. Tejasvi Surya was on the flight with Tamil Nadu BJP chief K Annamalai.
“When the incident happened, Tejasvi himself reported that incident, based on which the full protocol was followed as Directorate General Civil Aviation itself has investigated and enunciated.
The full protocol was followed and pressurisation was checked, all the other checks were in place and only then (did) the aircraft take off. I think he himself apologised.
“The person concerned, Tejasvi himself reported to the crew and the pilot following which all the protocols were followed and only then was the aircraft allowed to take off,” the Minister told reporters on the sidelines of an event.
Meanwhile, social media users are sharing photos and videos of the emergency exits asking how one can open the emergency exit door by mistake. A demo video of IndiGo’s ATR 72 showing how to open the emergency exit is doing the rounds. In the video, the demonstrators pull the top portion of the gate marked as ‘Pull to open’ to fully open the emergency exit door. Tamil Nadu Congress leader Mohan Kumaramangalam shared a representative photo of the IndiGo ATR in which Tejasvi travelled and said even Baba Ramdev can’t rest his hand accidentally on the lever of the emergency exit. Apart from the demo video, the photo of the IndiGo ATR 72 is also going viral. In the photo, it can be seen the red button to open the emergency exit is above the window. Tejasvi was on the window seat.
The incident reported on Tuesday has triggered a massive row with the Congress raising many questions over how it happened and why the incident did not come to light immediately. The airline said it happened by mistake and the flight took off only after all checks were done.
Officials said the flight was delayed by over two hours as the aircraft took off for its destination, Tiruchirapalli, only after stringent engineering checks. Surya “rested his hand on the door”, unlocking the exit, according to officials. Interestingly, the Press statement did not mention the identity and details of the passenger.
Several Opposition leaders are questioning why Surya “got away with a mere apology” and did not face more serious action. Supriya Shrinate, Chairperson of Social Media and Digital Platforms of Congress, said, “A mischievous man opens the emergency exit door on a flight, causing the flight to be delayed by 3 hours, the name of the person who put people at risk and inconvenience was not revealed for a month. Drunk on power - that MP spreads hatred everyday. This spoiled Surya needs to be taught a lesson.”
Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi posted, “Shouldn’t one take suo moto cognisance of this incident? What if this happened once the aircraft had taken off rather than when it was taxiing on the runway, should an apology suffice?”
On Tuesday, IndiGo said a passenger accidentally opened the emergency exit of the plane after boarding at Chennai airport but did not disclose the identity of the person. When asked about the incident, Scindia said it had happened on the ground. IndiGo said a passenger travelling on flight 6E 7339 from Chennai to Tiruchirapalli on December 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 had said.
A senior official at aviation regulator DGCA on Tuesday said the event was duly reported and that no safety was compromised, adding that it appears that by mistake, the right hand emergency exit got opened by a passenger while the aircraft was on the ground. “The crew took note and resultantly, all appropriate airworthiness actions such as reinstalling the door, pressurization check etc were carried out before the release of the aircraft for departure. No safety was compromised,” the official had said.