On Wednesday morning, panic broke out in front of a Chair Airlines flight from Zurich to Pristina due to smoke. Passengers opened the emergency exits without instructions from the crew. At least one emergency window was even thrown from the plane.

People on board report that smoke came from all sides. However, the assumption of the travelers was completely wrong, because it was only a question of haze that arose as a result of the de-icing process. A process that is actually completely harmless, but extremely important in winter.

The medium-haul jet should have taken off at 5:45 a.m. from Zurich Airport. As is usual in wintry conditions, the machine first rolled onto a de-icing platform. The aircraft is treated with a special liquid that is intended to prevent ice from forming, especially on the wings. However, the haze that forms around the aircraft during this process was interpreted by some travelers as smoke. They panicked and the situation gradually escalated.

"Assuming smoke was involved, a passenger unsolicited opened the emergency door over the wing, automatically deploying the evacuation slide, causing confusion," Chair Airlines said in a statement. "The haze spread through the ventilation system". The carrier now wants to take a closer look at how this could happen.

However, despite the emergency exit being opened, the passengers are said to have first taken their hand luggage out of the compartments and then wanted to exit the plane with it via the emergency slide. However, the crew was able to prevent this. Chair Airlines further explains: "We would like to underline that at no time was there any danger to either the 132 passengers, the crew or the aircraft," the airline said. The passengers were informed accordingly, provided with vouchers and rebooked on other flights.