28-year-old engineer in hurry jumps off plane in Chennai
It is always a common sight across India where one gets to see passengers making a bee line to the exit as soon as the flight touches down for landing at the airport. The matter took an altogether different turn when one person redefined impatience and reportedly jumped out of an Dubai-Chennai Air India flight as soon as it touched down at the Chennai airport at 5:15 am on Monday. The person has been identified as Kamal Basha Ahmed, who is understood to have unbuckled his seat belt soon after touch down and made a headway to the aisle.
The crew was under the impression that he wanted to disembark first and instructed him to go back to his seat. But the 28-year-old engineer determined to reach the front, even overpowered a crew member and opened the door of the flight by himself and jumped out as the flight was coming to a halt. Kamal, according to newspaper reports, is a resident of Trichy and escaped with minor bruises. Grave injuries were avoided as the emergency chute inflated since the door was opened before time.
He slid to the ground from the chute where he was caught by Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel. They handed him over to the police after initial questioning. He was sent to judicial custody for five days. Airport official stated that the incident caused panic, with the ground staff and security personnel surprised to see a man sliding down the emergency chute as soon as the plane came to a halt.
His mother and aunt were in the airport to receive Ahmed. According to a police official, "Ahmed looked tired and deprived of sleep. He is an engineering graduate and was working as a trainee in a company in Dubai. His father, who is also in the UAE, sent him home to consult a doctor after he could not handle work pressure. He was in tears and apologized several times when questioned repeatedly."
An Air India official speaking on the incident said, “The aerobridge was about to be attached when Ahmed opened the door. The crew would have opened the door had he waited a few minutes. As the door was opened manually, the emergency chute inflated.” There were more than 100 passengers on the flight and had to face slight delays in disembarking. An airline official said, “The schedule of the aircraft was not hit because of the incident. It left to Delhi as per schedule in the morning.”