Beijing: In a bizarre incident, a Chinese man opened the the emergency exit of an aircraft when it was about to take off, mistaking the door handle for a handrail to steady himself.

The male passenger, aged 42, who was travelling with his wife, was later placed in detention for 10 days for his "mistake", Xinjiang's local news portal iyaxin.com said. The man and his wife were on a flight on Saturday from an airport in Urumqi, the capital city of Xinjiang, travelling to Zhengzhou, in Henan province.