Opening Cabin Doors in Flight

[Doors to Automatic]

Reading the usual sensationalist nonsense in the likes of the Daily Mail about passengers going crazy on board various airliners at cruising altitude and trying to open the door to get out I am always amused at the comments about 'putting the other passengers in danger' because obviously anyone with a bit of sense knows that it is impossible to open the cabin doors of a pressurised aircraft at 39,000 ft.

However, my question is how easy or difficult is it to open the doors in flight below 10,000 feet when inside and outside pressure is equal? I am guessing it would still be quite difficult because of wind pressure etc?

[wiggy]

Might depend on the aircraft/door. Some types have flight locks that engage to keep the door closed, regardless of pressurisation, above a certain speed.

Even on those without flight locks the aircraft may well (deliberately) become slightly pressurised during the takeoff roll and may well stay so until touchdown, quite possibly pressurised enough to make door opening very difficult, if not impossible.

[737aviator]

During normal operation even below 10,000ft the aircraft will be pressurised. This pressurisation occurs at the start of the takeoff roll and until landing on any pressurised aircraft I've flown.

Only if there's a pressurisation system failure and there is no pressurisation will it be potentially possible to open the doors but there are still many reasons that this wouldn't be easy to accomplish.

For example, on the 737 the doors are hinged at the front and would need to swing into the airflow to open so this would be impossible at any speed, however they could be cocked ajar but I doubt it would be possible to open them enough for anything or anybody to squeeze out. The overhangs are locked closed when the aircraft is in flight irrespective of pressurisation.

On some aircraft, opening the cabin doors was part of the smoke removal process. For example on the 747, see the SAA 295 crash it was mentioned.

[wiggy]

On some aircraft, opening the cabin doors was part of the smoke removal process. For example on the 747, see the SAA 295 crash it was mentioned.

For the benefit of the OP as I recall it on the 744 getting any door movement was only possible once the aircraft had been deliberately depressurised (by the Flight Crew), and in theory the door handle was only moved far enough to open the "gates", the small panels top and bottom.

[Doors to Automatic]

Thanks for the replies! :ok:

[MarkerInbound]

The aircraft that do pressurize on the ground before the takeoff roll are limited to a small deferential (around 1/8 of a psi) to allow for a cabin evacuation.

[Capot]

You could certainly open the rear airstairs door on a B727, and then exit with a parachute and a bag full of loot, as a Mr D Cooper proved in 1971; as well as that, I seemed to recall, the flight crew of a B727 being deliberately crashed for research purposes exited in the same way well before the aircraft was remotely flown into the ground. Wimps, of course, but quite sensible ones.

Unfortunately the rear airstairs door seems to have disappeared from more modern designs, so there's little point in taking your slim-line parachute with you as cabin baggage.

[MarkerInbound]

The aft airstair door on a 727 is an inward opening plug door. You have to depressurize the aircraft to open it.

[NutLoose]

They came up with a fix to prevent opening the 727 rear door in flight post that escapade, it was a simple air operated vane that stopped the door opening outwards and was named after him..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cooper_vane

[grounded27]

Really even during pre-pressurization, 1/8 to 1/2 PSI during ground roll for T/O would be an extreme amount of weight. The only exemption I have heard of was an event during MX on the ground with an early A-300 by use of the door assist bottle that is there to violently open the door at 0 DP to make sure the slide clears. Understand there has been a fix since this event that I understood happened 30 ish years ago.

This is really a non issue, I do not know how a 90 lb F/A can open a cabin door that my large ass often struggles with on the ground. I suppose it takes more technique than strength, large order for SLF. You can forget about it with a plug door.