Responding to the controversy surrounding the opening of the emergency door on an IndiGo flight, Tamil Nadu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Annamalai said that Karnataka BJP MP Tejasvi Surya is an educated person who had no reason to open the door. Addressing the media in Chikkamagaluru on Thursday, January 19, Annamalai said that Tejasvi noticed a gap in the door where the beading was peeling off and informed the air hostess who went on to tell the pilot. He added, “Even I had noticed the beading and informed the air hostess. After the pilot was informed, he had to follow procedure and de-boarded the passengers. They rectified the problem and fixed the door.”
Claiming that Tejasvi Surya did not apologise for allegedly opening the door, Annamalai said, “You all know he is an MP and is in a responsible position so he apologised despite it not being his fault. He did not apologise as was reported in the media. The flight was delayed, even though he was not at fault. He apologised because he is in a responsible position and is an MP.” The BJP chief further said that it was very difficult to open the door because it has to be rotated and pulled from the outside. Annamalai further said that BJP’s political opponents are creating an issue.
Minister for Civil Aviation Jyotiraditya Scindia however said on Wednesday, January 18 that Tejasvi had apologised and that the door had opened by mistake. “I think it’s important not to be circumspect in terms of the issue but look at the facts. The facts are that the door did open by mistake while the plane was on the ground. All the checks were taken, and after that only, the plane was allowed to take off. And he has also said sorry for it himself, so…”
The incident occurred on December 10 last year on a flight from Chennai to Tiruchirapalli. IndiGo had issued a statement regarding the incident on January 17 saying that a passenger had accidentally opened the emergency door and immediately apologised for the action. While the statement did not mention Tejasvi Surya’s name, it said that the aircraft underwent mandatory engineer checks and was delayed because of the same.