Tejasvi Surya didn’t open emergency door, says Tamil Nadu BJP chief Annamalai

Annamlai also said that Surya had not apologised as reported by the media. “He is an MP, educated and travels so much on flights. He did not open the emergency exit door. He did not issue any apology letter as it was not his mistake. He filled an instant report form, which is part of the procedure. He apologised to passengers for the delay though it was not his mistake,” he added.

While Surya has remained silent on the episode, Scindia has said the MP accidentally opened the emergency exit. “It’s important to look at the facts. The door was opened by him by mistake when the flight was on the ground and after all checks, the flight was allowed to take off. He also apologised for the mistake. He himself has apologised for the delay caused due to the incident,” the Union minister said Wednesday.

IndiGo has also said that a passenger did open the emergency exit. “A 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’s departure,” the airline’s statement read.

The Directorate-General of Civil Aviation has confirmed the incident and termed it as a “mistake”. “The 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 the reinstalling of the door, pressurisation check etc were carried out before the release of the aircraft for departure. No safety was compromised,” the regulator said.