KOCHI: What began as a routine overnight flight from Kuala Lumpur to Kochi turned into a terrifying ordeal for over a hundred passengers after a fellow traveller allegedly damaged an emergency exit window panel and attempted to tamper with the emergency exit door while the aircraft was preparing to land at Kochi airport on Wednesday night.
Passengers described the ordeal as terrifying. “There was only about half an hour left before we reached Nedumbassery. Suddenly, we heard a loud noise from near the emergency exit. Everyone started screaming. When we looked, a few passengers were struggling to restrain him,” a passenger identified as Matty expressed through her Instagram handle.
“By the time we reached there, a portion of the emergency exit window panel had been broken. He was pulling at the emergency exit. At that moment, we had mentally accepted death. It was one of the most frightening experiences of our lives,” the passenger wrote.
Another passenger, Aiswarya G R wrote on social media, “It was a midnight flight, and most passengers were fast asleep when we were woken up by a loud and frightening sound of air gushing. A passenger in the emergency row broke a window and managed to interfere with the emergency exit door. Fellow passengers and the Batik Air crew acted immediately, restrained him and prevented the situation from escalating further. It was an extremely frightening experience, but thankfully, all of us are safe,” she wrote.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the incident occurred aboard Batik Air flight OD231 between 9.30 pm and 11.05 pm on Wednesday.
The accused, identified as Jamsheer Athanikkal, 36, seated in 12A, allegedly kicked and broke the emergency exit window panel before attempting to open the emergency exit door, despite knowing that such an act could endanger the lives of passengers and crew. He also allegedly threatened passengers who tried to intervene.
The panic inside the cabin lasted several minutes before cabin crew members, assisted by a few passengers, managed to restrain the man. However, the aircraft landed safely at Kochi Airport around 11.10 pm. Immediately after landing, personnel of the Central Industrial Security Force boarded the aircraft and took the accused into custody.