While a Beijing Capital Airlines flight was on its way from Changsha in Hunan province to Sanya in Hainan in China, a female passenger made an attempt to open the plane's emergency exit door while the plane was mid-flight, according to the Daily Mail. After crew members intervened, the woman reportedly threatened to kill herself, leading to a scuffle between her and the crew. After the fight broke out, two other passengers are said to have taken the woman's side and tried to take control of the door. After being subdued by the flight staff, all three people were arrested once the plane landed in Sanya.
Despite the alarming nature of the event, Chinese flyers have attempted to open emergency doors on planes 12 times in the last four months, according to Skift, although in these situations the planes were taxiing or at a standstill. The culprit in one of these cases was put on trial in what marked the first time in the country that someone stood trial for such an action.
The Chinese government is currently working with major airlines to enforce restrictive measures on those who are "blacklisted" by China's National Tourism Administration after numerous incidents of strange or dangerous behavior by Chinese tourists made their way into the public eye.
Despite the prominence of Chinese tourists being the focal point in stories regarding bad airplane behavior, some believe that it is a multinational issue that stretches far beyond being simply a Chinese problem, according to the South China Morning Post. Some are even calling for the flying blacklist policy, which currently only takes place in China, to be adapted in other countries and airlines around the world.
