CHENNAI: A 29-year-old man opened the emergency exit and jumped from an Air Arabia flight that was taxiing after landing at Chennai airport early on Sunday, leading to closure of the main runway and diversions and delays of subsequent flights.CISF personnel chased and caught the passenger, Mohamed Sherif Mohamed Najumudeen, who told them he felt uncomfortable and nauseated and that’s why he opened the emergency exit. The crew of the flight, which had 240 passengers, told investigators that the man had complained twice that he felt like vomiting and asked to be seated near the emergency exit.Customs officials checked the baggage of the man to see if he was carrying any contraband.Man questioned for three hours, handed over to copsAirport authorities questioned him for three hours before handing him over to the city police who said they will register a case against him under the Aircraft Act for violating safety norms.The flight from Sharjah had just landed around 3.20am and was taxiing to the apron when the passenger, Mohamed Sherif Mohamed Najumudeen, suddenly opened the emergency window and jumped from the aircraft. The pilot immediately alerted air traffic control and the flight was disabled. CISF personnel too were alerted and they chased the flyer down, as he attempted to flee.Since the flight was disabled on the taxiway, a British Airways flight that was to land in the city was diverted to Bengaluru, as the wings of the two aircraft might have come in contact..Airport authorities closed the main runway for an hour from 3.23am to 4.25am, and as a result four arrivals and one departure were carried out on the secondary runway.A pilot working for another airlines said, on condition of anonymity, that no passenger in the right state of mind would attempt to open the emergency window as it is a punishable offence. “In other countries, he would have been jailed by now. But here, the law usually takes a lenient stand on such issues. The pilot has no control over such inadvertent acts, except stalling the flight,” the pilot said.
