{"id":434479,"date":"2023-01-18T10:15:44","date_gmt":"2023-01-18T04:45:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/?p=434479"},"modified":"2023-01-18T11:25:09","modified_gmt":"2023-01-18T05:55:09","slug":"tejasvi-surya-opened-emergency-exit-on-indigo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/politics\/tejasvi-surya-opened-emergency-exit-on-indigo\/","title":{"rendered":"BJYM chief Tejasvi Surya opened emergency exit on IndiGo flight: Report"},"content":{"rendered":"

BJP Yuva Morcha (BJYM) chief and Bengaluru South MP, Tejasvi Surya, reportedly opened the emergency exit door on a grounded IndiGo Chennai- Tiruchirapalli flight on December 10, 2022.<\/a><\/p>\n

According to a report by The Indian Express<\/em>, sources at the budget airline confirmed that it was indeed Tejasvi Surya, who was travelling with BJP\u2019s Tamil Nadu chief K Annamalai, and had opened the emergency exit while the plane was still grounded.<\/p>\n

After media reports, IndiGo had on Tuesday issued a statement, more than a month after the incident.<\/p>\n

Late on Tuesday, reports alleging that the passenger in question was Surya, started coming, however IndiGo refused to name the culprit.<\/p>\n

\u201cA 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 the action. As per SOPs, the incident was logged and the aircraft underwent mandatory engineering checks, which led to a delay in the flight\u2019s departure,\u201d the statement from IndiGo read.<\/p>\n

Tejasvi Surya and K Annamalai were seated next to the emergency exit door. When the cabin crew were briefing passengers on the safety protocol, the BJYM president reportedly pulled the emergency exit door release lever while the plane was prepping for takeoff, the report by Indian Express<\/em> said, quoting sources.<\/p>\n

This led to the aircraft crew engaging emergency SOP\u2019s as the passengers were deboarded and the craft was thoroughly examined before takeoff was okayed. The flight, which was originally scheduled to depart at 10.05 am, finally took off from Chennai airport at 12.27 pm and arrived at Tiruchirapalli at 1.23 pm.<\/p>\n

The report, quoting sources, said that Tejasvi had given a written apology letter to IndiGo but the BJP MP could not be reached for a comment as he was attending the party\u2019s national executive meeting in New Delhi.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn apology note has a set format, and that was filled and signed by the person after the incident,\u201d the report quoted a source as saying.<\/p>\n

The Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) while confirming the incident, had called it a \u201cmistake\u201d and said the aircraft was only cleared for takeoff after proper SOP\u2019s and necessary checks were performed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe event was duly reported. It appears that by mistake, the RH (right hand) emergency exit got opened by a passenger while the aircraft was on 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,\u201d DGCA had said in a statement.<\/p>\n

However, the report, while quoting a source at the Airports Authority of India office in Chennai claimed that IndiGo had not informed them about the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were not informed when the incident took place, no report was filed in this regard,\u201d an anonymous official was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n