Passenger Mistakenly Opens Emergency Exit, Temporarily Closes Entire Airport

A passenger was detained at a German airport Tuesday after he reportedly caused a temporary shutdown of the facility when he left a terminal through an emergency exit.

According to the New York Post, the unidentified Spanish man was traveling through Munich International Airport en route to Madrid when he accidentally bypassed a security checkpoint by exiting through an emergency door.

The man continued through the exit despite alarms sounding and was eventually detained by police as a result. Officers said the incident appeared to have been a mistake and the confused passenger likely won’t face charges.

The police response to the incident resulted in the temporary closure of Terminal 1 and parts of Terminal 2, with almost 5,000 passengers being impacted by the cancellations of around 190 incoming and outgoing flights.

Munich Airport spokesman Robert Wilhelm said the passengers who had already gone through security checks for their departing flights were forced to go through the process again, causing further congestion at the facility.

The airport’s terminals reopened a few hours later after the man was in custody. The incident occurred during peak summer travel season at one of Germany’s busiest aviation hubs.