Passenger fined after activating emergency slide on landing to help mother with screaming child get off plane in a hurry

Sitting next to a screaming child on a airplane can be a battle of nerves, and one passenger decided to help the offending youngster exit the plane as soon as possible - by opening the emergency exit.

Luckily for all on board, the Vietnam Airlines plane had already landed in Ho Chi Minh City airport, but when 29-year-old Le Van Thuan yanked open the plane’s window exit, it released the emergency slide.

His quick-fire plan failed and neither the mother or the child used the slide.

In fact his impatience was a costly mistakes and Vietnam’s TuoiTreNews reports that Thuan faces a fine of at least 15 million Vietnamese dong ($720) for opening the door.

Although it was not used, the slide release, similar to an air bag must be refitted inside the plane, at a cost of $10,000 to the airline.

The man told local authorities he activated the slide so that the woman and her son could get off the plane faster.

After the emergency activation, the plane was taken out of service and the airline had to seek out another jet for the return journey.

This is the third incident in six months, in which a passenger has opened am emergency door on a Vietnam Airlines plane.

Last year, a 22-year-old college student accidentally opened the door, thinking it would release the window shade, after claiming he had never been on a plane before.

And in July, a man opened the exit door just to see what would happen.

Chief inspector Nguyen Van Hao of Vietnam’s Ministry of Transport is calling for steeper penalties for people who break the law on flights.

'We are going to ask the government to increase fines to prevent such an incident happening again,' he said.

'Several passengers have been fined for this, but people continue to open emergency doors.'

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