The government will initially assign certain emergency exit-row seats of aircraft to uniformed personnel, such as firefighters or police officers, as a follow-up measure to a recent incident where a passenger opened a door mid-flight, a ruling party lawmaker said Thursday.

In May, the passenger sitting in a seat close to an emergency door of a jetliner operated by Asiana Airlines Co. heading to the southeastern city of Daegu from the southern island of Jeju opened a door just before landing, causing panic among the passengers.

Rep. Park Dae-chul, the chief policymaker of the People Power Party, told reporters after a meeting with government officials that firefighters, police officers, soldiers and airline employees will be given priority in seating arrangements close to emergency exits.

The measure will apply to a total of 94 seats across 38 aircrafts of three models operated by four local airliners — Asiana Airlines, Air Seoul Co., Air Busan Co. and Aero K Airlines Co — starting on July 31, according to Park.

“We do not anticipate any major issues, as 236 of the 335 passenger planes operated by local carriers are equipped with locks, preventing the opening of emergency doors during flights,” Park said.

The airlines will verify passengers’ identities at the check-in counters, and these seats will be initially excluded from general reservation, Park said. The seats will only be made available to the general public a certain time before the scheduled departure time.

Source: Yonhap News Agency