airbus doors

[Waving_tug_boy]

Have a question about airbus doors. if an exit door is armed and opened whilst armed, will the chute deploy? What are the ins and outs of the arming procedure and any fail safes that are in place?

[dixi188]

I only know about the A300 but I think the later ones have similar operation.
If the door is opened from outside with the slide armed the mechanical linkage in the door will dis-arm the slide so there is no chance of the slide deploying.

However it is normally the cabin crew who open the door and if they have not dis-armed it, the slide will deploy and this is where the danger lies. It is very rare and procedures should prevent it happening, but I've seen it twice in my career.

Hope this helps.

[sierra_sotiropoulos]

This is also the case in the A320 family.

[Waving_tug_boy]

Thanks for the reply. It was a 319 aircraft. I'm guessing that's the same

[TURIN]

Have a question about airbus doors. if an exit door is armed and opened whilst armed, will the chute deploy?

Ask yourself the question. What would be the point of arming it if it didn't deploy when you opened the door?

[allosaurus]

what do you think the call "Doors to manual" means?

[Waving_tug_boy]

Have a question about airbus doors. if an exit door is armed and opened whilst armed, will the chute deploy?

Ask yourself the question. What would be the point of arming it if it didn't deploy when you opened the door?

That's exactly my question. Had an issue on a flight and the crew are saying the door was opened by ground staff while the door was armed, the ground staff are saying the crew opened the door. He said she said.

[TURIN]

If they are saying the door was opened by ground staff. Was that from the outside? If so, and the chute deployed then there is either a fault with the door mechanism or someone is telling porkies.

If it was opened from the inside then it is the responsibility of the individual opening the door to check it is disarmed.
That individual has to be appropriately trained and authorised to do so. If not then they shouldn't have been opening the door.

Some airlines do not allow ground staff to open doors (from the inside) if cabin crew are on board. An attempt to avoid the scenario you have described.

[Dave Gittins]

Please let me get this straight If an (Airbus) door is armed and opened from the outside, the chute won't deploy. However if it is armed and opened from the inside it will.

Are all aeroplanes with chutes the same ?

[dixi188]

Basically yes for all modern airliners, but some of the older types like the BAC 1-11, DC-8, etc. had the slide armed by clipping a hook in a fitting on the floor. This had to be un-hooked to dis-arm the slide and could not be done from outside. So these slides would deploy if the door was opened from outside and the hook was still attached..

[sierra_sotiropoulos]

Two things happen if a door is opened from the inside while it is armed:

1) The door opening will be power assisted.
2) The slide will inflate.

For this purpose there is a white warning light next to the door window. Cabin crew before opening the door must check that neither the white (door armed) nor the red light (residual cabin pressure) are illuminated.

[KBPsen]

The main reason for the automatic disarming of the slide when opening the door from the outside, is to prevent the door assist from pushing the door open. It would be dangerous if it did as whoever was opening the door would very likely be pushed back and fall on their arse or down the steps.

The slide will not necessarily deploy as it needs to drop a certain distance to activate. If there are steps or an airbridge at the door the slide pack will just lay there undeployed.

[750XL]

Basically yes for all modern airliners,

I'm trained to open various Airbus / Boeing doors, and from my training, if you open a 737 door while it is armed from the outside, the chute will blow.

I believe Airbus doors automatically disarm themselves when the handle from the outside is lifted.

[allosaurus]

757 and 767 will disarm if opened from outside.all airbuses disarm if opened from outside.its for the protection of emergency workers when attending an incident and have to open doors if crew inside are incapacitated in any way.This is the reason we were given when we did our type courses back in the early 80,s

[so u think u can fly]

That is correct!
All doors are automatically disarmed when operated from the outside.

[TURIN]

As has been said, not all of them.

Beware!:ouch:

[Alber Ratman]

The 737 slide is manually connected by a girt bar to two points on the floor. Of course it will not disarm if the door is opened from the outside. However if armed, the person arming it should place the red band across the window. If you are opening a 737 door from the outside, check that band is not across the window, and if it is, don't try to open it..
The 757 and Airbus doors will throw you out if inadvertantly fired.. Happened to a mechanic at a British MRO a couple of years ago, he was lucky to survive.

[grounded27]

I had heard an old story of a interior people working a A302 while pressurized and opening a door, supposedly it was blown off it's hinges and took the interior tech with it. Regardless never try to hold on to an airbus door if you accidentally blow it, you will not stop it and you will probably go for a ride, it has happened.

Another reason why line techs should be allowed to carry knives, I knew of a guy who had several ribs broken on a 744, somehow during a slide change the slide discharged inside the aircraft pinning him against a galley until the guy working with him could slash enough air out of the slide with a leatherman.

[Kengineer-130]

Alber, from that incident I am led to believe that the door assist bottle blew, but there was no slide fitted, so the door flew open much faster than would be usual?

Pretty nasty incident by all accounts, and it appears the MRO didn't learn the lesson very well having seen some of the H&S nightmares that the engineers were forced to accept :ugh:

[Chock Chucker]

I suppose the initial question refers to Airbus doors so some of you guys have gone off in a different tangent & confused the matter when talking about different aircraft types like Boeing & so on.

Some of you are right & some of you are wrong in regards to your posted information in regards to this matter.

As we were all trained in our apprenticeship days never go by your memory, never assume anything & always refer to the manual.

It would be best to refer back to all Airbus aircraft type manuals for the correct answer to this question & in doing so the correct information can then be posted here for all of us to learn.

Door slides can be very dangerous & you dont want to be posting incorrect info hear that someone may go off with & possibly kill or injure themselves or somone else.

Not wanting to be a party pooper.


Chock Chucker. :ok:

[IFixPlanes]

... As we were all trained in our apprenticeship days never go by your memory, never assume anything & always refer to the manual. ...

As like "FDR ... in the unpressurized tail area" :E

[Chock Chucker]

Dear IFIXPlanes,

The question posted was on the location of the FDR in A320 & how easy it is to access / change. I answered the question to the best of my abilities using word for word out of my A320 type corse study manuals & i also re-corrected my later posts.

The A320 FDR as per my A320 type course study manuals is located in the unpressurised tail section of the aircraft. End of story.

It amazes me that the origion post question was posted approx 2 weeks ago & with all the knowlege IFiXPlanes has you could not even post to the origional poster & answer his A320 FDR question.

The only thing IFIXPlanes could do was pick holes in everything i posted to answer the A320 FDR question.

Maybe IFIXPlanes could spend a little more time on this site helping out & answering other post questions & not trying to tear down everyone that tries.

Tall Poppy Syndrome.


Chock Chucker. :ok:

[Alber Ratman]

Chock Chucker, of course you are totally correct that everything should be done IAW correct maintenance manuals, especially for safety items, however our tangents have all been door related, especially the Airbus door assist mechanisms and 737 slides. Nobody should be using a web forum as gospel for doing their job, but the odd snipet of info guiding sombebody to look up the info from an approved source is not the worst thing that can happen.

[IFixPlanes]

...Maybe IFIXPlanes could spend a little more time on this site helping out & answering other post questions & not trying to tear down everyone that tries. ...
No, not everybody. Cool down...

...Tall Poppy Syndrome. ...
You act more like what called the "Dunning–Kruger effect (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect)" :E

[Contact Approach]

I haven't read all of the replies so if it's already been answered I apologise.

The doors are disarmed when opening from the outside as the lever that operates the door, when pushed, pushes up the armed lever disarming the door.

CA

[Chock Chucker]

So IFIXPLANES,

Where is the A320 FDR located & how easy is it to access / Change ?

Another person posted this question approx 2 weeks ago on this forum & for all your aircraft knowledge you claim to have you could not even answer the question. Why not ? Your a daily regular on this forum & have posted 629 posts since joining in 2004.

I went through my A320 mechanical type course study manuals & posted the correct answer to this question to assist the other person.

However you replied to my answer & behaved in a teardown manner even after i corrected a minor inconsistency non related to A320 FDR in my further post.

Seems like you have a chip on your sholder & want to take it out on innocent bystanders for some reason. I dont know what you want to fight or argue about however i'm really not interested in going down that road with you.

In future if you want to put attachments or links to your posts directed negatively at others like myself on this forum & being non aircraft related at the same time please think first & only attach constructive attachments or links, if not i will make a complaint about your behaviour to the PPRuNe website.

Dont forget everything you post hear is for all to view & read including the PPRuNe website Team & i dont think you would like a defimation law suiet filed against you as sounds to be the case with numerous others on these forums.


Chock Chucker. :ok:

[Epsomdog]

It is bad practice to open any "live" aircraft door from the outside. Even if the aircraft happens to be an airbus. It's very much like looking down the barrel of a gun, whilst there's a cartridge in the breech!

If there's someone inside, then you should always, stand back and let them open the door.

[TURIN]

It used to be standard procedure on BA 747s that the door was always opened by an appropriately trained person, from the outside, on arrival. I know of at least one Airbus operator that has a similar policy today.


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[Waving_tug_boy]

Someone has said that ground staff opened a door while it was still armed. For obvious reasons we do not open doors at all and my argument was surely if someone had opened a door the chute would have blown. I was UN aware that airbus have added a fail safe which disarms the door when opened from the outside, so that argument was blown out the water so to speak.

[lakerman]

Lets get all the willy waving out the way and answer the question the op asked. On all airbus a/c and all but the 737/727 era aircraft if you open an armed door from outside it will automatically disarm and you will not swallow a slide. Notice I said 737/737 era aircraft, there will be others of a similar age like the BAC1-11 and DC8 that are the same as the 737. So if you go and meet a relic on arrival, be carefull and let the crew open the door. Most airlines of my day had the crew opening the door(s) from the inside but I did notice that some US airlines only disarmed the forward doors on a multileg flight which, in my view, is asking for trouble towards the end of a tiring day.