Flyer Tries to Open Emergency Exit Thinking It's the Lavatory

A first-time flyer almost made the mistake of a lifetime on a GoAir flight earlier this week.

The man, in his late twenties, attempted to open the Airbus A320 emergency exit mid-flight because he claimed he thought it was the door to the lavatory. According to the Independent, the passenger started pulling the emergency door handle, saying he “needed to use the washroom urgently.”

Officials say "pandemonium" then erupted. Fellow passengers saw what the unidentified man was doing and began screaming and trying to stop him. The Times of India reports that some passengers tried to stop him and were injured while wrestling the man away from the emergency door.

There were reportedly no serious injuries among the flight's 150 passengers, and it landed safely at its destination, Patna, India (PAT) at about 7:30pm local time. The man was handed over to airport police for questioning. Authorities later released him once they were sure the incident was a genuine mistake. Officials said that the man had successfully unhatched the door, but because of the outside pressure, he couldn't open it, according to the Times of India. It would take three to four tons of force to open an emergency door mid-flight.

In a similar incident in 2017, a teenager opened the emergency exit on a grounded Copa Airlines aircraft and slid down the aircraft emergency slide.