A series of flights were disrupted on Friday after a passenger on board a plane at Noi Bai International Airport in Hanoi opened the exit door of the aircraft, thereby inflating the emergency slide.

Bamboo Airways’ flight QH201, which was scheduled to leave Hanoi for Ho Chi Minh City on the VN-A22 plane at 5:50 am on Friday morning, was delayed for more than two hours due to the incident.

The incident happened at 5:30 am, when N.N.M., a 28-year-old passenger, opened the 3R exit door on the left side of the plane, causing the emergency exit slide to inflate, Nguoi Lao Dong (Labor) newspaper reported.

As a result, all the passengers aboard had to be taken back to the terminal while waiting for their flight on another plane arranged by Bamboo Airways.

Their flight departed later at 8:20 am, two hours and half behind schedule, according to Nguoi Lao Dong. 

Three other flights were also delayed, including flight QH1970 from Ho Chi Minh City to Van Don, flight QH1971 from Van Don to Ho Chi Minh City, and flight QH242 from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi.

On March 18, a similar incident happened to flight QH1177, also operated by Bamboo Airways.

The flight was preparing to depart Tho Xuan Airport in north-central Thanh Hoa Province for Ho Chi Minh City at 5:00 pm, when passenger V.V.D., 59, from Thanh Hoa, opened the exit door, which in turn released the emergency slide on the side of the plane.

Due to the incident, the Bamboo Airways had to use another plane for the flight, as the emergency slide had to be repaired.

As a result, the flight was postponed for nearly two hours.

Anybody opens the exit door of a plane without permission will be subject to a fine of VND10-20 million (US$430-860), according to current regulations.