Terrifying moment plane door OPENS in mid-air when traveller grabs emergency exit lever

In what would be anyone’s worst nightmare, a plane door opened in mid-air when a passenger grabbed the emergency exit lever.

Video shows passengers gripping onto their seats as the wind billowed into the aircraft as it descended towards the South Korean city of Daegu on Friday.

Children began shaking with fear and crying when the door of the Asiana Airlines plane opened suddenly, witnesses said.

Nine passengers were so terrified that they were sent to hospital with breathing difficulties once the plane landed safely at Daego airport at 12.40pm local time with the door still open.

Police have detained a male passenger in his 30s for questioning after he opened the door, Yonhap News Agency reports. It is unclear why he did so. 

In what would be anyone’s worst nightmare, a plane door opened in mid-air when a passenger grabbed the emergency exit lever

An opened door of an Asiana Airlines plane is seen at Daegu International Airport in Daegu on Friday after a passenger opened it

Rescue workers move a passenger on a stretcher to an ambulance at Daegu International Airport in Daegu after the door was opened on their flight on Friday

Some people on board tried to stop the man from opening the door but were unsuccessful, the Transport Ministry said.

The plane, carrying 194 people including 48 teenage athletes who were set to compete in a national sports event in the city of Olsan, had departed from the island of Jeju when the door opened.

‘Children quivered and cried in panic,’ the mother of one of the athletes said. ‘Those sitting near the exit must have been shocked the most.’

An Asiana Airlines spokesperson said authorities were investigating how the door opened.

‘Police are investigating the incident after a passenger who was sitting near the emergency exit said he touched its lever,’ an Asiana Airlines spokesperson said.

Pictured: An opened door of an Asiana Airlines plane is seen at Daegu International Airport in Daegu on Friday after it was manually opened by a passenger

Rescue workers move students on stretchers at Daegu International Airport, in Daegu, South Korea after the plane door opened mid-air

While it is rare for a plane door to open while the aircraft is in mid-air, it has happened before.

In January, a Russian An-26 plane’s rear door sprang open shortly after takeoff in the world’s coldest region. 

The pilot made a rapid emergency landing at Magan in the Siberian region of Yakutsk, and all on board were ‘safe’ despite the intense cold in the cabin during the drama.