A case has been registered against a passenger after budget-carrier Air Deccan suffered $20,000 (approx Rs 9 lakh) in damage when he opened the emergency-exit door of the aircraft frustrated over the diversion of the Delhi-bound plane after over a day's delay due to fog.
"The escape slide of the emergency door of the aircraft deflated after the incident. We have to replace it with a new one...We have grounded the aircraft to do the necessary repair works," an airline official said in Mumbai.
"The aircraft had to be brought back to Mumbai because it could not land at Delhi due to poor weather conditions. Passengers were not allowed to deplane. Then somebody noticed that a young passenger was trying to open the emergency door," an airline spokesperson said.
The airline has registered a case against the passenger, Dheeraj Malhotra, with the airport police station for damaging its property, the spokesperson said.
The aircraft scheduled to leave Delhi on December 31 was rescheduled for 1.30 pm the next day. But the flight took off at 6.30 pm, only to be returned due to poor visibility at the Delhi airport.