Cabin Crew: Sloppy and careless

'Sloppy and careless' Air China staff blasted over 'unlocked' door as plane takes off

SAFETY experts have blasted "sloppy and careless" Air China staff after images emerged appearing to show a plane's door not properly locked while in mid-air.



The door appears to be unlocked
Images of the Boeing 737-800 at Beijing Capital International Airport emerged online showing the Air China flight with the door not properly locked.

Air safety expert Guang Yu said: "It is probably not dangerous because there are various safety measures in place but it shows an extremely sloppy and careless attitude on behalf of the cabin crew."

In response to the criticism, a spokesman for Air China said airline crew had conducted a thorough investigation and found the lock was in the "normal" position before the flight took off.

Meanwhile, the Chinese state news service quoted a Boeing specialist as saying a mechanical problem with the lock could have resulted in the external lock being out of position.

The picture has caused a heated debate on the country's social media website Weibo, following several incidents involving Chinese passengers opening airplane doors shortly before take-off.


The Boeing 737-800 at Beijing Capital International Airport
Earlier this week, passenger Dong She was jailed for ten days after opening an airplane door.

Mr She, 42, had claimed he had been holding the handrail tight when it unexpectedly moved, opening the door on the Urumqi Airlines flight from Xinjiang to Henan in China just as it was about to start off down the runway.

Last month, Chinese tourists were booted from a Thai airways flight after re-enacting a scene from film Mortal Combat, while another passenger forced their plane to turn around after throwing steaming noodles at a stewardess.