Hello,
I've been thinking about the single door design of the PA28, and have a question.
Apart from the convenience issue of having the door on the passenger's side, I've also been wondering about the safety aspect of it in case of an emergency or forced landing. Specifically, if the situation were ugly enough for the aircraft to have overturned or the only door to be blocked.
I was recently reading some of the CAA's 'Safety Sense' publications, and came across the following one:
http://www.caa.co.uk/docs/33/20130121SSL02.pdf
From page 4:
d) Advise passengers how to use any emergency exits. Tell them to kick or force out a window if the doors or canopy cannot be opened or if the aircraft has overturned.
I've never heard this advice before - is kicking out the windows feasible in an emergency situation in a PA28? Are they designed to separate when under force in such a scenario?
I have the choice to move onto the C172 or stay on a PA28 for my CPL hour building, and in my specific situation, they come to exactly the same price. I've therefore been trying to decide between the two on other factors and I've been giving a great deal of attention (perhaps not justifiably so) to the presence of only a single door on the PA28.
What do others think?
Odai.