A man tried to open the emergency door of an Air Asia flight from Delhi to Ranchi minutes before landing, endangering the lives of passengers, as per Press Trust of India. The passenger, identified as Aftab Ahmed (32), made this life- threatening attempt yesterday at 9.50 pm, according to official sources.

He also allegedly injured a few passengers and crew members when they attempted to stop him. Ahmed was handed over to local police at Ranchi, sources said.

He is said to be a resident of Ranchi. A statement from Air Asia on the incident is awaited.

The Air Asia flight (I5-546) had taken off from Delhi and was headed towards Kolkata via Ranchi. At around 9.50pm, Ahmed who was seated on 24-A suddenly tried to force open one of the emergency doors (R2) of the flight, reports Hindustan Times.

Last year, An IndiGo Airlines flight from Dubai to Kozhikode had to be diverted to Mumbai after Islamil (24) from Kannur in Kerala was accused by his co-passengers of making pro-Islamic State (ISIS) slogans. The accused, who was accompanied by his elder brother, also physically abused the co-passengers. Airport officials and Mumbai police later denied the passenger raised any slogans and claimed he was ‘mentally unstable’; one media outlet NewsMinute actually reported that the man shouted “anti-ISIS slogans.”

We can only wonder how this news story about Aftab Ahmed will pan out – will he too end up becoming a victim? Will we ever get to know the truth?

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