Passenger who tried to open plane door at 30000ft 'thought it was a toilet'

James Gray was fined €600 by KLM after the incident on an Edinburgh to Amsterdam to flight, and was told he can't fly with them for five years. Photo / Getty Images

A British passenger who was banned for trying to open a jet door at 30,000ft claims he mistook it for the toilet.

James Gray was fined €600 by KLM after the incident on an Edinburgh to Amsterdam to flight, and was told he can't fly with them for five years.

He says airline staff accused him of trying to open the door of the plane, but he insists he only touched the handle after confusing it for the door to the toilet.

Gray, from Alloa, was escorted from the KLM flight from Edinburgh to Amsterdam the moment it touched down at Schiphol Airport.

He was whisked away to a nearby detention centre where he spent the night before he was fined €600.

But when he went to fly home he said KLM staff refused to let him board and said he was banned from flying with them for five years.

He only made it back after a pal paid for him to travel with a rival airline.

Gray said: "The crew told me to stay in my seat and I was to be arrested when the plane landed.

"I tried to explain it was a simple mistake. It was a misunderstanding. The police came and arrested me. They weren't too friendly."

Gray claims he spoke to a translator by phone as he was being interviewed by Dutch police.

He also had to borrow money after the fine wiped out his holiday funds.

Gray said he doesn't know if he will face any further action over the incident but is adamant he wouldn't dream of opening a plane door on purpose.

"I realise the danger of that sort of thing," he added.

A spokeswoman for Schiphol Airport and a spokesperson for the Royal Dutch Border Police both refused to comment.

KLM said a passenger had been handed over to authorities due to "his misbehaviour" on-board.