Korean Air: Passenger appears to attempt to open emergency exit door during flight

A passenger was restrained after causing a disruption on a Korean Air flight. Photo / 123rf

Video has emerged of a passenger appearing to attempt to open the emergency exit door before being restrained by several crew members during a Korean Air flight.

On Friday, Korean Air flight KE658 was travelling from Bangkok, Thailand to Seoul, South Korea when the incident occurred.

Footage captured by Jackson Lee (@whojacksonlee), who initially shared it on TikTok, shows a male passenger repeatedly attempting to turn the emergency exit door handle, though it didn’t open. Almost instantly he was surrounded and restrained by the flight crew.

According to an incident summary released by Korean Air and provided to the Herald, the passenger was “occupying a crew jumpseat in the emergency exit area during flight”

“Upon crew intervention requesting his return to the assigned seat, the passenger exhibited non-compliant behaviour, including verbal aggression and threatening movements toward crew members while attempting to access the emergency exit area

“Following standard security protocols, the cabin crew issued multiple warnings. Under the captain’s authority, restraint measures were implemented, and the passenger was relocated to a secure area where the situation was successfully de-escalated,” the summary said.

Comments online suggest that the incident occurred within one hour of take-off, though this has not yet been confirmed by the Herald.

The incident summary stated the Airbus A330-300 landed safely at Seoul’s Incheon International Airport where the disruptive passenger was transferred to authorities “for further investigation”.

In a written statement to the Herald, Korean Air said: “The incident was managed according to our established security protocols, to prioritise passenger safety and operational integrity. While the situation was successfully contained, we will [fully] cooperate with relevant authorities in the investigation of this matter.”

The airline added that it does not tolerate behaviour that threatens safety. “Korean Air maintains a zero-tolerance approach to behaviours that compromise aviation safety and will continue to respond decisively to such incidents,” the statement said.

The incident comes after a New Zealand man forced an Auckland-bound Air New Zealand flight to land in Melbourne following his disruptive behaviour on board a couple of weeks ago.

On October 22, Swalyn Malaice Jackson Barton-Cookes was handcuffed and removed from Air NZ flight NZ176 by Australian Federal Police after the flight was forced to divert to Melbourne Airport.

The 23-year-old, who now resides in Perth, appeared in Melbourne’s Broadmeadows Magistrates’ Court charged with one count of assaulting a flight crew member on October 24.