A passenger on board a Xiamen Airlines (MF) flight opened an emergency exit door just before the aircraft took off on Sunday afternoon.

The middle-aged male passenger on Flight MF8453 opened the emergency exit door when the aircraft was waiting clear to take off at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport (HGH). It is learned that the flight was bound for Chengdu from Hangzhou with a stopover in Changsha.

When asked why he did that, the passenger said he thought he was opening a window, as he wanted to have some fresh air.

The crew members immediately had the exit door repaired. The flight took off from HGH at 3:22 p.m., with a delay of about half an hour, according to VeryZhun, China's leading flight status service provider.