Melbourne, passenger opens emergency door and walks on wing: arrested

Passengers' love for the emergency exits is growing by leaps and bounds; it is factual. More and more often we come across (absurd, evidently) news stories about passengers who decide--for no reason at all--to open aircraft doors or emergency exits. There are also those who confuse hatches with bathroom doors, but that's another story....

It is the morning of Thursday, August 22 and we find ourselves at Melbourne, in Australia. The JetStar flight JQ507, operated by an Airbus A320-200 and taking off from Sydney, landed a few minutes ago and is on the apron waiting for passengers to disembark. Some, however, are in more of a hurry than others: a man in his 30s, whose identity remains unknown at the moment, thoughtfully open the emergency exits - placed at the height of the wings-with the intention, it is assumed, of getting out first. 

As is well known, opening the emergency doors automatically activates the chute emergency: the man, however, did not use it but preferred to stroll over the wing and then lower himself to the ground by holding on to the engine. After a few minutes, authorities and airport ground staff stopped and arrested him: the charge, as Sky News writes, is allegedly aggressive behavior and violation of security protocols. 

Do these stories leave you dumbfounded? It is understandable; in fact, it would be strange otherwise. What I find most disturbing, however, is the frequency - increasing - with which these situations occur. An identical incident was recorded in Thailand earlier this year: on February 9, a 40-year-old Canadian passenger, who was on board Thai Airways flight TG121 departing Chiang Mai and bound for Bangkok, opened the front door of the aircraft during taxiing; this incident caused delays for more than 10 flights and the man now faces not only a hefty fine but also the death penalty, as CNN writes.

A few days later, on February 21, another passenger attempted to do the same thing aboard an American Airlines flight. The only difference? The plane was flying at cruising altitude; I think it goes without saying the panic this act created in the cabin. The man was eventually hunted down by five passengers, and once the plane landed, he was arrested. 

More and more often I read these stories and just as often I wonder: But don't people have better things to do? What do I know: read a book, do a crossword puzzle, sleep...At this point, although it's a crazy baloney, even raw-jogging would be better (much to the chagrin of the Poodle).