Buddha Air distributes compensation received from passengers who opened plane's emergency door to charity

KATHMANDU, Jan 03:Two passengers received fines for opening the plane's emergency door. Passengers who opened the door on two Buddha Air planes were fined one lakh apiece.

In a press statement, Buddha Air stated that the money collected as fines from passengers had been donated to a charity. One lakh each has been presented to the Mahaganga Aarti-Gangasagar in Janakpurdham and the Pokhara Old Age Home.

On Wednesday (January 1), a passenger opened the plane's emergency door while preparing for a journey from Pokhara to Kathmandu (flight 618). The jet took departure for Kathmandu at 6:40 p.m., approximately three hours late, after a technical team checked it.

Similarly, on October 10, the aircraft departing Kathmandu for Janakpur at 6:05 a.m. was diverted owing to inclement weather in Janakpur and arrived in Biratnagar. After the weather improved in Janakpur, a passenger opened the plane's 'emergency' door as it taxied onto the runway from the taxiway.

Following the incident, the crew returned the plane to the parking area. A technical team from Kathmandu went to assess the plane, which landed in Janakpur at 1 p.m. following a thorough inspection. This caused a disruption in the flight procedure and had a significant impact on the day's flying schedule.

Passengers who open the emergency door without permission will be turned over to airport security. According to Buddha Air, the passenger has released after paying a fee of 100,000 rupees on the condition that he did not repeat the offense.

Before the flight, the airline's flight attendants provide detailed instructions on how to use the emergency door. It cannot be opened except in an emergency, as it jeopardizes flight safety.

According to the Civil Aviation Act of 2015, anyone who disrupts air traffic faces one to three years in prison and up to life in prison, depending on the nature of the offense.

Airlines can also impose extra restrictions on passengers who cause unnecessary disruptions to flight safety. 

Buddha Air has announced that if a passenger opens the emergency door during an accident, it would henceforth donate Rs 100,000 to a charitable organization in the same destination.

Buddha Air has said that the compensation paid in the preceding two occurrences has been distributed to Mahaganga Aarti-Gangasagar in Janakpur and an old age home in Pokhara.