MONK NEEDING FRESH AIR OPENS PLANE`S EMERGENCY EXIT

BY P.VIJIAN

NEW DELHI, Nov 24 (Bernama) -- A Buddhist monk who opened the emergency exit
of an airplane just before take off because he wanted some fresh air forced the
plane to delay its flight for almost seven hours at Kolkata airport on Monday
morning.

As result of his action, the airport authorities evacuated all the
passengers onboard and grounded the plane for nearly seven hours until all the
safety drills were completed.

The Hindu newspaper reported that the bizarre incident happened on Air
India's flight IC-727 that was heading to Yangon with 135 passengers on board.

The monk from Myanmar, a 45-year-old Waza Thunga, believed to be a second
time flier, was feeling claustrophobic inside the plane, which was still on the
runway, and decided to open the emergency exit next to his seat after browsing
the plane's safety manual.

"As soon as he pulled the safety clutch, the emergency window opened and the
emergency bells rang.

"The occurrence of such a situation is rare but what can you do to prevent
such a thing. How can we control it if a passenger sets off an alarm by
mistake," the airline's spokesman Pulok Mukherjee told the newspaper.

It is not known whether the airline took any action against the monk, who
spoke very little English.
-- BERNAMA