A man who opened the emergency door while an Asiana Airlines flight was in the air said that he “wanted to get off quickly” because he was suffocating. 

Passengers on the flight were terrified as the man opened the door while the plane was coming in to land in Daegu, South Korea, on Friday, CNN reported. A video posted to social media showed air whipping into the cabin after the emergency door had been opened. 

Asiana Airlines A321 lands safely at Daegu Airport in South Korea after the emergency exit door was opened by a passenger on approach. 9 people taken to hospital with breathing difficulties. pic.twitter.com/Jzed4PMDvc

— Breaking Aviation News & Videos (@aviationbrk) May 26, 2023

The 33-year-old man was sitting in the emergency exit row and reportedly opened the door while the plane was still 700 feet in the air, according to an airline official. Officials confirmed with CNN that the plane landed safely despite the frightening situation. 

Upon landing, the man was arrested by local police and reportedly told authorities that he had been under stress after losing a job and felt suffocated. Police said the man told them he wanted to get off the plane as quickly as possible. The man was charged with violating aviation security law, and if convicted, he could face up to 10 years behind bars. 

The flight was carrying 194 passengers from the southern island of Jeju to Daegu. A dozen people suffered minor injuries and nine of them were sent to the hospital to be treated for breathing issues. Elementary and middle school track and field athletes were also on board, heading to a weekend competition. 

Aviation expert Geoffrey Thomas told CNN that the man opening the emergency door mid-air was “very bizarre” because “[t]echnically, it’s not possible to open those doors in flight.”

“It seems implausible that the door could be opened in the first place and then against the airstream technically impossible, but somehow or another it has happened,” Thomas added.

Asiana Airlines said that the change in pressure as the aircraft descended could explain how the man could open the door. 

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“The airplane is automatically set to adjust the pressure of the cabin according to the altitude of the aircraft,” the airline said. “When the aircraft is high up in the air, it is impossible to open the door but when the altitude is low and close to landing, the door can be opened.”

A fight and a gunshot forced one of Chicago‘s most popular summer spots to close just hours after opening for Memorial Day weekend. 

Up to 100 teenagers gathered at the North Avenue beach around 1:30 p.m. on Friday when a fight broke out and someone fired a gun, according to police, Fox 32 reported. Video of the incident showed the group of teens taunting each other before a single gunshot is heard and the crowd disperses.

No one was injured by the gunfire, and police took a 15-year-old boy and one other person into custody. Chicago’s beaches, which stretch along Lake Michigan, officially opened at 11 a.m. Friday for the summer. 

Today, on the first day beaches were opened for the season in Chicago, a shooting takes place at the popular North Avenue Beach as about 80 to 100 teenagers gathered. pic.twitter.com/tEJeSW0kNj

— Marie Oakes (@TheMarieOakes) May 26, 2023

“The person who fired the weapon was observed,” Interim Chicago Police Department Supt. Fred Waller said. “He was taken into custody after a very, very short foot pursuit. Another subject in the same area was also observed running away with a weapon and he was taken into custody. Two weapons were recovered from him.”

Claire Nelson, who was at the beach with a group of friends from DePaul University, was only 200 feet away from the group of teenagers at the time of the fight and subsequent gunfire, CBS News reported. 

“We were really close, actually. We were having fun, and then all of a sudden these people started fighting, and the police came out, and then we heard a gunshot, and we just ran away to safety,” Nelson said.

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The beach reopened a few hours after the incident, and the 15-year-old was charged with two felonies: one count of aggravated assault discharge of a firearm and one count of criminal damage to property worth $500 to $10,000.

The city, led by its new leftist mayor Brandon Johnson, prepared for another weekend of potential violence by increasing police presence across the city and deploying 30 “peacekeepers” trained in de-escalation and conflict intervention. The Chicago PD also said it would be conducting bag checks of large gatherings at beaches. 

Last year in Chicago, nine people were killed and 40 were injured in shootings across the city over Memorial Day weekend.

“It’s going to take all of us not just the police, city government to ensure our communities can live and thrive in peace and safety,” Johnson said while discussing the city’s safety plan for the holiday weekend.