Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Jan 18: Tejasvi Surya, national president of the BJP ‘Yuva Morcha’ and the party’s MP from Bengaluru South, allegedly opened the emergency exit door of an Indigo fight that was about to take off at the Chennai airport on December 10 last year.
The airline released a statement on Tuesday, over a month after the incident, following some media reports on it.
“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 said.
The flight was scheduled to take off at 10.05 am. According to sources, Surya and Annamalai were in the seats next to the emergency exit door. When the cabin crew was briefing passengers on the safety protocol, Surya reportedly pulled the emergency exit door release lever.
As per protocol, the passengers were deboarded, and the aircraft took off only after a thorough inspection. The flight finally took off at 12.27 pm and landed at Tiruchirapalli at 1.23 pm.
When reached for comment, Surya’s office said he was attending the BJP’s national executive meeting in New Delhi. According to sources, Surya gave a written apology to the airline. “An apology note has a set format, and that was filled and signed by the person after the incident,” a source said.
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The Congress on Tuesday accused BJP MP Tejasvi Surya of putting the lives of his fellow passengers at risk after reports emerged that he had opened the door.
In an interview with South First, a co-passenger who was present on the same flight said,“After the briefing by the crew, the two started talking to each other and in a quick moment, MP Tejasvi Surya placed his hand on the lever as if holding a gripping handle of a car and pulled it down. The emergency exit door came undone.”
Surya, on his part, neither confirmed nor denied the allegations, but said that he would act in response only if the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) or the airline were to release an official statement.
