Disturbed Man tries to open Emergency Exit in flight.

[tcar]

"An unruly passenger on a flight from London tried to open a emergency exit door during the plane's descent into an airport in Sydney.

The man reportedly lunged for the door near the economy seating on Qantas airline flight, before cabin crews were able to restrain him, according to a story by the Daily Mail Online. The airline denies that the man actually reached the door, the story said, but one passenger said he grabbed the door handle and tried to turn it before he was restrained.

After landing, the man was taken away for questioning, and police said later that he was released and wouldn't be charged, the Daily Mail reported."


I've wondered if there is a failsafe to keep one from opening the overwing exits during flight. Maybe the pressurization keeps them closed, but if they open outwards as some do, that would actually help the opening.

Also, in this case, the plane was landing so the cabin would not have been pressurized to any extent.

Anyone know?

[berettafan]

i dunno but i HATE flying and a couple years ago i was in the seat next to a door. EVERY time somebody walked past me to hit the head i was ready to pounce and keep them away from the door.

i am a rotten flyer though.

[berettafan]

One woman actually took a step towards the door and my coworker had to put his hand on me as i was getting up to stop her from her suicide mission.

It's like that Gilligan episode where they try to figure out who murdered Randolph Blake or whoever it was. Tense as can be for 6hrs.

[fingpilot]

99% of the emergency exits are plug-type doors. Cannot be opened if any pressure in cabin. Even a quarter PSI, normally the setting during taxi, takeoff and landing once on ground. Once airbourne, the press/diff climbs rapidly. Is a BIG item on the emergency digress checklist. Manually depress, to zero if need be, early.

Electrically opened (non-plug) doors are interlocked in flight. Manual (non electric, non plug) doors are electrically interlocked inflight. Could be overridden, but you'd have to know secret.

OK, I'm sure there are specific aircraft that have specific paths, but normally, never an issue.

There are some attempts (probably spawned by Hollywood), but can't remember an instance in a pressurized commercial plane where it was successful.

[HPDE30]

Originally Posted by tcar

I've wondered if there is a failsafe to keep one from opening the overwing exits during flight. Maybe the pressurization keeps them closed, but if they open outwards as some do, that would actually help the opening.

Also, in this case, the plane was landing so the cabin would not have been pressurized to any extent.

Every modern pressurized aircraft that I've worked on has doors that open inwards, at least initially. Even if they swing out when fully opened, they have to come in at the start of the opening sequence.

Even at landing, there's a fair amount of differential pressure, you would have to be almost on the ground to be able to force the door open, and it would take a pretty strong guy even at that point. I was in an airplane once that was pressurized on the ground for maintenance, the guy sitting in the f/o's seat thought it would be funny to open the sliding window at around .5 psid. It took quite a bit of effort, but he managed to get it open. That's a window with about 2-3 sq ft of surface area, as opposed to a door or hatch.

I've been tempted to try it during a ground pressurization, but common sense has always won out. I like my job. I don't know if it's ever actually happened, but I've never heard of anyone stepping out in flight (and no, DB Cooper doesn't count).

[fingpilot]

Even in D.B. Cooper's case, he had ordered the plane to be depressurized for the flight. Opening the rear pressure plug door in the 727 was easy at that point, and the interior controls for the trailing rear airstair door were still connected in those days. He lowered the stairs and stepped off into history.

[GH85Carrera]

Originally Posted by fingpilot

Even in D.B. Cooper's case, he had ordered the plane to be depressurized for the flight. Opening the rear pressure plug door in the 727 was easy at that point, and the interior controls for the trailing rear airstair door were still connected in those days. He lowered the stairs and stepped off into history.

He stepped off into oblivion.

[tcar]

Originally Posted by fingpilot

99% of the emergency exits are plug-type doors. Cannot be opened if any pressure in cabin. Even a quarter PSI, normally the setting during taxi, takeoff and landing once on ground. Once airbourne, the press/diff climbs rapidly. Is a BIG item on the emergency digress checklist. Manually depress, to zero if need be, early.

Electrically opened (non-plug) doors are interlocked in flight. Manual (non electric, non plug) doors are electrically interlocked inflight. Could be overridden, but you'd have to know secret.

OK, I'm sure there are specific aircraft that have specific paths, but normally, never an issue.

There are some attempts (probably spawned by Hollywood), but can't remember an instance in a pressurized commercial plane where it was successful.

Thanks, I know some of the safety diagrams say to put the door on the seats, others say to push it outside after it's open.

I think that's right, you have to pull them inward to open them.

[fingpilot]

There are always three things that 'startle' newbies in cabin emergency egress training.

1) How heavy that window plug door is (75 to 90 pounds).

2) How hot the cabin mask oxygen is when you take that first swig (It is the product of two chemicals that are burning).

3) When 'smoked' (artificially filled with non-toxic breathable smoke for training), how easy it is to get disoriented and LOST in the cabin on the way to where you THOUGHT the exit was. Imagine it hot, and toxic, and burning your eyes and lungs.

Combine #1 or #2 with #3...... The stats are scary, even with 'professional' crews seeing it for the first time.

[Sarc]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

He stepped off into oblivion.

[spuggy]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

He stepped off into oblivion.

See how successful he was at convincing you not to look for him? Meticulously planned...

The rear stairs are still functional on cargo 727's. I jumped a 727-200 at Quincy, along with about 100 other people on that pass. They made passes all day long.

1000's of people have exited a 727 in flight via the tail stairs without incident - you walk down and the slipstream just plucks you off way before you get to the end...

The most novel thing about it was how fast it climbed to altitude (about 5-6 minutes to 14,000 as I recall), and how around about 7,000 ft, the entire rear cabin briefly filled with mist as the moisture in people's clothes just boiled off.

[onewhippedpuppy]

We had an interesting incident with one of my employer's aircraft. There was an incident on a King Air air ambulance, a patient became unruly and the crew was unable to regain control. Running out of options, the captain ordered the crew to put on their oxygen masks and he dumped the cabin pressurization. I don't remember the altitude exactly but it was on the order of 30,000 ft. The patient, who should have only been conscious for a matter of seconds, took matters into his own hands by pulling the emergency plug and exiting the aircraft. Pretty well solved that problem.