Asiana passenger who opened plane door mid-air felt 'suffocated'

A man who opened an emergency exit on an Asiana Airlines flight in mid-air felt "suffocated" and wanted to get off quickly, South Korean police said on Saturday.

The Airbus A321 aircraft, with 194 people aboard, was heading to the south-eastern city of Daegu from the southern island of Jeju. The flight is normally about an hour, and the incident occurred when the plane was reaching the Daegu airport at an altitude of about 200 metres.

Police said the door was opened by a man in his 30s, but released no other details about the passenger. He was taken in by Daegu police for questioning and told officers he had been "under stress after losing a job recently".

"He felt the flight was taking longer than it should have been and felt suffocated inside the cabin," a Daegu police detective told AFP.

"He wanted out quickly."

The passenger faces up to 10 years in prison for violating aviation safety laws.

A video clip shot by a nearby passenger showed wind ripping through the open door, with fabric seat-backs and passengers' hair flapping wildly as some people shouted in surprise.

Another video shared on social media showed passengers sitting next to an open door being buffeted by strong winds.

A dozen passengers were taken to hospital after experiencing breathing difficulties but there were no major injuries or damage, according to the transport ministry.

"It was chaos with people close to the door appearing to faint one by one and flight attendants calling out for doctors on board," a 44-year-old passenger told the Yonhap news agency.

"I thought the plane was blowing up. I thought I was going to die like this."

Yonhap quoted other passengers as saying they suffered severe ear pain after the door opened. It said some cabin crew shouted for help from passengers to prevent the door from being opened.

A transport ministry official told AFP that this was "the first such incident" they were aware of in Korean aviation history.

Experts say South Korea's aviation industry has a solid safety record.