Person in Their 30s Acquitted After Removing Emergency Exit Cover on Plane Before Takeoff

A person in their 30s has been acquitted after removing the emergency exit handle cover on an aircraft preparing for takeoff.
According to legal circles on July 20, the Jeju District Court (Judge Kang Mi-hye of the 2nd Criminal Division) recently acquitted the defendant, a person in their 30s, who had been indicted without detention on charges of violating the Aviation Security Act.
The defendant was brought to trial for removing the emergency exit handle cover while sitting in an emergency exit seat on a Gimpo-bound flight at Jeju International Airport at 8:17 p.m. on February 5 of last year, while listening to instructions from a flight attendant.
As a result, the flight was delayed by approximately one hour.
The defendant claimed, "After hearing the explanation that 'in an emergency, you should check outside and remove the emergency exit cover when there is a signal from the flight attendant,' I looked at the flight attendant, and they seemed to think I had not understood, so they repeated the same explanation again." The defendant argued that they misunderstood this as an instruction to "open the cover right now."
Judge Kang stated, "It is judged that there was a justifiable reason for the defendant's misunderstanding," adding, "Furthermore, if a flight attendant repeatedly explains how to open an emergency exit, it is difficult to conclude that there is no possibility that an ordinary person would misunderstand it as an instruction to 'execute it now.'"
The judge further explained the reason for the acquittal, stating, "If the purpose had been to satisfy personal curiosity, it is unlikely the act would have stopped at just removing the emergency exit cover. The defendant attempted to reattach it after realizing the misunderstanding of the instruction and complied with subsequent procedures."
(Photo: Provided by Korea Airports Corporation, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.