BJP MP Tejasvi Surya allegedly ‘opened emergency exit’ of IndiGo plane, apologises

Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya opened the emergency exit of an IndiGo plane after boarding at Chennai airport on December 10, 2022, reported The Indian Express. Following media reports about the incident, the airline released a statement on Tuesday. Although media reports said that it was Surya, the airline did not mention anyone’s name in its statement.

In its statement, the airline said that the incident happened at the IndiGo flight 6E 7339 from Chennai to Tiruchirapalli, when the passenger “accidentally opened 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 said.

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However, sources told IE that it was BJP Yuva Morcha national president Surya who was travelling with the BJP’s Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai.

Sources said that the flight was scheduled to take off at 10.05 AM, and both the BJP leaders were in the seats next to the emergency exit door. When the cabin crew were briefing the passengers, Surya had reportedly pulled the emergency door release lever, and the emergency door opened while the plane was reportedly taxiing for takeoff.

The passengers were later deboarded and the flight took off again after inspection from the Chennai airport at 12.27 PM and landed at Tiruchirapalli at 1.23 pm.

Surya is also reported to have submitted a written apology, which has a set format, to the airline after the incident, and signed it, a source said.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) said that the incident was a “mistake”, and said that safety of passengers was not compromised.

“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 reinstalling of door, pressurisation check etc were carried out before the release of the aircraft for departure. No safety was compromised,” the regulator said.