The IndiGo plane 7339 (ATR) was about to take off from Chennai to go in the direction of Tiruchirapalli when the air hostess who was giving security directions to the passengers was interrupted instantly. Two passengers, Bengaluru South MP Tejasvi Surya and Tamil Nadu BJP president Ok Annamalai who had been onboard, advised her that the emergency door had been inadvertently opened.

In an ATR, which is a small flight, the emergency door is on the entrance. While most seats have handles, the seats close to the emergency exit do not need an armrest. Surya was flippantly resting his hand on the door and after some time indicated to the air hostess that the door could have opened barely, News18 has learnt.

“She then began to take the safety precautions that are required since the lever had been pushed down unknowingly,” mentioned a Tamil Nadu BJP chief who’s within the know of the incident.

Soon after, Surya stood up and apologised to the passengers onboard as a result of of the delay that was being brought about as a result of security protocols and pressurisation checks that had been being performed, News18 additionally learnt.

“As per protocol, the incident had to be given in writing to the airlines and the airport authorities and that was done as responsible citizens,” the BJP chief additional mentioned.

Surya is a first-time MP from the Bengaluru South constituency and in addition holds the place of the nationwide president of the BJP Yuva Morcha, the youth wing of the BJP. The TN BJP president had accompanied Surya to deal with the BJYM Tamil Nadu state govt assembly in Tiruchirapalli on December 10.

The BJP MP was contacted a number of instances over the cellphone and textual content messages by News18 however we’re but to get a response. The report can be up to date as quickly as a reply is obtained.

The opposition events together with the Congress, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, and the Trinamool Congress jumped onto the allegation bandwagon, claiming that the “accidental” opening of the emergency door of the IndiGo flight by Tejasvi Surya was an enormous mistake and put lives in danger.

The aircraft incident was first tweeted by Tamil Nadu’s electrical energy minister Senthil Balaji on December 29.

In his tweet in Tamil, the DMK minister makes the allegation that it was Surya who had put the lives of a number of IndiGo passengers in danger.

“On December 10th, the ‘photoshop’ party’s state president, as well as the youth wing’s national president, irresponsibly opened the emergency exit in a flight. As per the rules, all the passengers were de-boarded for checks. The safety of the passengers was compromised by this. The flight was delayed by three hours. Since their clan is habituated to writing apology letters, on that day, a letter was written and given. Why has the news media not taken it up?” mentioned Balaji’s tweet.

Senior Congress chief Randeep Singh Surjewala additionally took to Twitter on the difficulty.

“The BJP VIP Brats! How dare the airline complain? Is it the norm for the BJP power elite? Did it compromise passenger safety? Ohhh! U can’t ask questions about BJP’s entitled VIP’s!” he tweeted.

The TMC too posted on the social media site that the “irresponsibility of BJP MP Tejasvi Surya could have cost lives.”

Though the parties have been making the claim based on news reports and tweets by DMK leaders on the incident, the Director General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) issued a statement, confirming the incident that took place a month ago but did not name the person behind it.

According to the DGCA: “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 their 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 firm, IndiGo, additionally issued a press release that “the passenger immediately apologised for their action. As per the SOPs, the incident was logged and the aircraft underwent mandatory engineering check which led to a delay in the flight’s departure.”

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