BJP MP Tejasvi Surya described the furore over his opening of the emergency door on the December 10Â Chennai-Tiruchirapalli IndiGo flight as a “political hit job”. “I will not comment on political hit jobs and glorify them,” said Surya when contacted.
Congress has attacked Surya over the matter even as Civil Aviation Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia pointed out that the 32-year-old representing the Bangalore South constituency had apologised. Hours after Scindia’s comment, DH accessed a first-hand account from a passenger seated close to the BJP leader.Â
“Surya had the emergency exit to his right and his seat had no armrest. He stretched out his arm to close the air conditioner vent. Surya’s elbow touched the door, which came out of the beading. It’s not as if he himself unhooked the entire door,” the passenger said, adding, “Realising immediately that the emergency exit was out of its place, Surya alerted the cabin crew. An air hostess took a look at it and informed the captain. We were made to deboard because flight personnel had to conduct safety checks.”
Surya then wrote an incident report. The matter took place at the Chennai airport and there were 70 passengers on board, including Surya and BJP Tamil Nadu president K Annamalai.Â
The passenger further recalled, “It was not a written apology. He wrote down what happened and stated that he was shocked and surprised to see the door move.” The flight, apparently, had several senior passengers who were inconvenienced by the delay.
The eyewitness added, “Surya and Annamalai apologised to the passengers for the inconvenience,” concluding, “Why would Surya endanger his own life and that of others by mischievously opening the emergency exit?”Â
The fellow flyer also reasoned that it is not easy opening an emergency exit without others noticing. Â
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