The consequence of opening a planes door mid-flight has probably crossed a lot of passengers mind. We often wonder what would happen is a crazed passenger dashing towards the emergency exit and opening the plane’s door, would it send themselves along with all unsecured flight attendants and holidaymakers into the sky?
Recently, that nightmare nearly became reality when a
first-class air passenger attempted to open the door of the cabin aboard a
Delta Air Lines flight between Beijing and Chicago. The crew worked very hard
to restrain him, and he was then arrested as soon as the plane touched down.
But are our fears warranted? What would have happened if
he’d been successful? Should an air passenger succeed in opening the door of a
plane at a high altitude; the cabin will rapidly lose pressure causing chaos.
Even cases of slow decompression can be deadly, which
sparingly happens around 40 to 50 times per year. In 2005, a Boeing 737 owned
by Helios Airways crashed, killing all the 121 passengers along with the crew, as
a result of a gradual reduction in the cabins pressure. The lack of oxygen at
an altitude of 30,000 feet incapacitated the crew. With the crew unconscious the plane flew on
autopilot until it eventually ran out of fuel, causing it to plunge to the
ground.
In cases like that, oxygen masks will descend from the
ceiling to prevent hypoxia, a condition cause that cause slow thinking, blurred visions and loss of consciousness. In
the cockpit, the crew will put on their rubber masks and start descending
rapidly to a safe altitude below 10,000ft.
Sudden decompression usually occurs when the door of a
plane is opened. Anyone standing close to the exit will be dragged into the sky,
the temperature of the cabin will rapidly drop, and the plane itself may start
breaking apart. In 1988, a Boeing 737 belonging to Aloha Airlines, with 90
people on board en route to Honolulu was travelling at the height of 24,000
feet when suddenly a small part of the roof tore off. The sudden change in air pressure ripped
Clarabelle Lansing from her seat and through the hole in the plane. Fortunately,
all other passengers used their safety belt, and the pilot landed safely 13
minutes later, avoiding any further tragedies.
Several other instances of explosive decompression have
been recorded, and they usually end with
fatalities. Japan Airlines Flight 123 has an instance of rapid decompression
due to a faulty repair, resulting in the Boeing 747 crashing into the mountains
in Gumma where the death toll was in excess of 520, making it the most fatal
single aircraft mishap in history.
Luckily, as decompression is very dangerous, the aircraft's have been specially designed to prevent the doors being opened mid-flight flight. Patrick Smith, a pilot and author explains, “The pressure of
the cabin will not allow it. The door of an aircraft can be likened to a drain
plug, held in place by the internal pressure. Nearly all exits of an aircraft
open inward. Some of them retract into the ceiling (upward); others swing
outward; however, they open inward first.”
“At a certain cruising altitude, about eight pounds of
pressure push against each square inch of the internal fuselage. That’s more
than 1,100 pounds against every square foot of the door,” according to Smith.
What happens at low altitudes, when the pressure of
the cabin is less?
“A mere two pounds on every square inch is far more
than what any individual can displace,
even after taking six cups of coffee plus the aggravation that arises
from sitting behind a crying baby,” Smith says. “The doors are secured further by
a number of mechanical electrical latches. You would require a hydraulic jack,
and sparingly, the airports security don’t allow them.”
However, one incident has been reported where a
passenger succeeded in opening the door of an airplane while in the sky. Dan
D.B Cooperin 1971, hijacked a Boeing 727 where he forcefully collected a ransom
of $200,000. Then, he jumped out of the rear exit with a parachute, and since
then nobody has seen him. However, he forced the pilot to depressurize the
plane to enable him to do so. As a result, a year later, “Cooper vanes” were
put in place to disable aircraft doors completely when the landing gear is up.
Small planes do not undergo pressurization meaning
skydivers and military personnel can leap through the aircraft doors as a result
of this.
Patrick Smith continues, “Any time the plane is moving
on the runway, the doors are usually not locked. You will also be able to
activate the emergency escape slides located below the
doors. As an airplane moves closer to the gate, you will hear the cabin crew
requesting for the doors to be switched to manual. Then, the slides’ automatic
deployment function is replaced with manual function. Those slides can unroll
with a force that is capable of killing a person, and you will not want them to
spread to the jet bridge or a catering truck.”
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