Twitter video: Passenger arrested after opening a plane emergency door mid-air (WATCH HERE)

A passenger was detained after opening the left emergency door of an Asiana Airlines Airbus A321 aircraft (HL8256) on approach around 200 metres (656 ft) above the ground, putting many people’s lives in jeopardy.

According to reports, while the aircraft was still about 200 meters (650 feet) above the ground on approach to the airport, a male passenger sitting near the emergency exit manually opened the door by operating the door handle, which remains in the armed position to meet an unforeseen emergency evacuation on the ground.

On a domestic flight, the Airbus A321-200 was carrying 194 people when it neared the runway at Daegu International Airport, roughly 240 kilometers (149 miles) southeast of Seoul. The 33-year-old male was arrested on suspicion of lifting the door lever.

The jet was on its way to Daegu after flying from Jeju Island when the door unexpectedly opened at approximately 12:45 p.m., but the plane quickly landed with the door open and an emergency Slide-Raft flew away.

None of the 194 passengers on board were injured or fell out of the plane, although 12 scared passengers had indications of respiratory problems and were brought to a hospital. They were not in critical condition and may have overbred, according to authorities.

Sources say , When the suspect tried to pull the lever of the exit door, flight attendants were not able to stop him because the plane was about to land.

According to the Yonhap Agency , Police said he was not drunk at the time of detention, but remained tight-lipped about why he did so.

“It is difficult to have a normal conversation with him,” an official said. “We will investigate the motive of the crime and punish him.”

“Flight attendants shouted for help from male passengers and people all around clung to him and pulled him in,” a witness said.

Among the passengers were 48 elementary- and middle-school athletes scheduled to compete in a national sports event on Saturday in the nearby city of Ulsan.

“Children quivered and cried in panic,” the mother of one of the athletes said. “Those sitting near the exit must have been shocked the most.”

Another 44-year-old passenger said a door in the middle of the left side of the plane opened with a detonating sound about 10 minutes before landing.

“It was chaos with people close to the door appearing to faint one by one and flight attendants calling out for doctors on board through broadcasting while others were running down the aisle in panic,” the passenger said.

“I thought the plane was blowing up. I thought I was going to die like this,” he said.