Overwing exits

[dgutte]

As I am usually first to check in I often get the overwing exit. My question is how easy is it to actually open the exit door in an emergency?

On the safety card it looks relatively simple but in practical terms is it really that easy to release the door, bring it in then throw it outside? Surely the weight of the door must be huge?

Finally, congrats to the GO cabin crew who are the only airline I have ever been with that actually speak directly to those in exit seats and point out the safety card. I also noticed that they check the status of those sitting there (size, whether they speak English etc...) Many a time I have seen people sitting in those seats who have hobbled up the aisle with a walking stick!

Dgutte

[BarryMonday]

Yes, the doors are heavy but the adrenalin will take care of that!
Provided you follow the instructions they do come out easily enough.

Virgin Blue in Australia also brief individually passengers sat by the overwing exit.

Singapore Airlines do vet the pax near any exit to ensure that they are able bodied.

[sweety]

If you fly Astraeus you'll find they brief overwing pax as well.

It depends on the type of aircraft you are in whether it's easy to open an overwing exit.

Please do pay attention to what Cabin Crew tell you regarding opening them as in case of emergency you'll be the one who will get yourself (and other pax)out of there. ;)

[RadarContact]

The windows, depending on type, weigh about 10 kg, maybe even a little less. A personal briefing is very recommendable - something I might consider including in my next cabin briefing. The opening procedure itself is intentionally very simple.

[Shadowpurser]

At BA pax at overwing exits are always briefed and must not be children, obease, disabled, pregnent, prisonners, infirm or elderly.

The door is heavy so I always say if anyone doesn't look able to lift (i.e 12yr old slightly built girl) it then move them.

As for passengers that do not speak english, you can normally overcome the language barrier by gestures - but failing that if I think they still don't understand...I move em.

[PAXboy]

I see that some of the newer machines have the over wing door hinged on the upper side. The card shows you releasing the handle and then pushing it out and upward on the hinge, where it is supported by a strut that deploys automatically.

I think these are the new A318/319 family?? Not sure where I saw them but somewhere in the last year! So it might have been a B. NG -700 as I recall a couple of those.

[bealine]

Radar Contact - what type of aircraft are you using as your example?

A Boeing 737's overwing doors are 45 lbs (21Kg) in weight, a McDonnel Douglas MD83 or Douglas DC9 are 50 Lbs (23Kg) in weight - hardly the easiest object for a fit, healthy person to manhandle- let alone someone with any sort of disability!

Whilst we're on the subject of overwing exits, the FAA are stricter than us Europeans in that passengers with dependants on board are not permitted the exit row.

(How many times have I heard parents say, put me and the wife in the exits, the kids can sit separately? In a genuine emergency, what will the parents do?.........go stright for the kids impeding everyone else's progress!)

From a check-in point of view, because of the immense difficulty these exits could present, I try to hold these back for someone who is physically strong or "Deadheading" Airline Crew. It may seem like a little "staff perk", but in the genuine "emergency", I know who I'd like to have in that row! (As I've said before, my customer service skills look after the well-being of all my pax!

:p :)

[Boss Raptor]

I always volunteer to an emergency exit seat...I thought that briefing people in energency exit rules was mandatory in the US however the number of times I have been briefed on US carriers is very hit and miss...sometimes yes and sometimes no on the same airline...

Have never been briefed on emergency exit seat on a carrier from another nation...

[Rwy in Sight]

Why you don't put prisoners on an overwing exit. My understanding is that they have more reasons to get away.

[corsaman]

PAXboy - it is the 737-700, at least ours, which has the power-assisted, upward hinged overwing exit door - brilliantly simple in theory. We always brief the overwing pax, it is an SOP, as is assessing the suitability of the occupants. Not usually a problem, as the first on are often the fittest! :)

[Globaliser]

PAXboy - it is the 737-700, at least ours, which has the power-assisted, upward hinged overwing exit door - brilliantly simple in theory. It should be so on all the 737 NGs. IIRC, a typical certification row between the FAA and the JAA. The FAA wanted to certificate as a pure 737 derivative, the JAA wanted to treat it as a new type (for which the old overwing exits would not have been sufficient). So the solution arrived at was the self-opening upwards-hinging exits you now see.

[Departures Beckham]

It's worth paying special attention to the safety card as to where the door should be placed. Some show inside - across your now vacant seat, some show the door being thrown outside the aircraft, and of course some doors stay attached to the aircraft.

At our company we do not allow CODPIE's to sit in exit rows (Child Obese Disabled Pregnant Infant or Elderly). I was also under the impression that passengers in exit row seats MUST be able to understand the english language, therefore being able to act upon the commands of crew members.

[PAXboy]

Gloabliser - thanks.

The -700s were, naturally ones with orange engine pods! Although I was on an SA 73-800 a year ago and might have seen them there too. I was annoyed that the machine was their early delivery without the blended winglet. Ooops, starting to sound a bit 'Spotty'. :eek:

Departures,
You are right about the confusing instructions as to what to do with the damm thing. However I seem to recall that - if you are on terra firma, you bring the door inboard. Because - if you heave it outwards, you might bean some well meaning rescue person on the bonce who, until that moment, had the kind intention of trying to help you. :(

If there has been 'A landing on water' (That line cracks me up every time!) then you can safely chuck it outside, as long as you watch out for Mermaids. ;)

Can you tell that it's Sunday afternoon?

[starbag]

I fly on both the 737-300 and 700. SOP for the -300 is to throw the exit outside the aircraft. Fire crews will be expecting it, you're not going to be able to throw it that far, and do you really think that there's going to be enought room to stow it in a chaotic cabin!! Having done a few domestic flights in the US, it seems that they still place it on the seats.
The 700 has the hinged exits. One word of warning, once you pull the handle down, LET GO!! The power assist is enought to pull you out of the aircraft!! (Very amusing when it happened to me on my 757 training NOT)

[PAXboy]

Starbag: That did cheer me up on a rainy Monday morning. Sorry but the image was graphic! :p So thanks for the warning.

Methinks that this kind of design is a good idea, making the process simpler and less variable as the pax has no choice in what to do.

Thanks for the word about rescue crews expecting the door to come out. I agree that, given the weight, all that is likely is to be able to 'post' it through the apeture and let it fall onto the wing root and so slide to the ground.

[OFBSLF]

Why you don't put prisoners on an overwing exit. My understanding is that they have more reasons to get away.

Because it's hard to open the exit while wearing handcuffs.

[A320_Murray]

Hello,
On a recent My Travel Flight from Mahon to Edinburgh (MYT997) myself, my mum and dad were sitting in the exit row. The FA came over to us and asked my mum who was sitting at the door if you thinks she woul dbe able to open the door in an Emergency! No, so I ended up sitting there and the FA drew our attention to the safety card and should us where things were ont he door...in-depth and I thought it was very good! I felt safer! What didn't make me feel safe was that 9mm of glass seperate me from room temperature to -40 degrees C!!!!! :D

[knobbygb]

So how do these new power-assisted thingies work? I thought overwing exits were 'plug' type doors which had to be pulled into the aircraft and turned on end before they'd fit through the hole. Wouldn't this mean that the mechanism would have to be quite complecated (i.e more likely to go wrong).

also, if all the pax has to do is pull the handle and wait, wouldn't there be an argument for having some kind of remote release which the crew could operate, thus taking the passanger out of the loop completley (expect for a local manual override just in case)?

[sweety]

Before you open any of emergency exits you must check if there's any fire or obstruction outside. To do that you must be by that exit really. So since you are there already there is no need for remote control especially as those exits are so easy to open!

[SLF]

dgutte

Another thing about the GO brief was the pre-recorded message going"...and LOOK, they're being pointed out to you now!". A little false, but it certainly helps draw attention to possibly the single most important part of the brief!

(Just back Prague-EMA tonight, nice trip, thanks boys and girls!)

Cheers - SLF

[alexh]

I flew today from Stockholm to heathrow, and the BA staff DID brief me on the exit procedure. In fact they have always done that.

But in the row was one of the biggest guys I have ever seen, and whether he would be classed as obese or not would depend on how brave you were if you were telling him!

[sweety]

If a pax needs an extension seatbelt to strap him/herself in the seat - that pax must not sit by the emergency exit.

[Xenia]

... And we do tell people they need to be relocated from emergency exits for such or such reason basically on a daily basis. It is not embarassing for us, as our job it's all about looking after our SLF safety :p

[knobbygb]

They have baggage gauges at check in at many airports. What you need is a fat-git gauge, perhaps a hoop the same shape as the exit which they have to climb through. If pie-tasters can't get through without breaking into a profuse sweat or their shirt coming un-tucked, they don't get allocated the seat.

Just in case.... ONLY JOKING :D (I'm not exactly slim myself).

[A320_Murray]

knobbygb - that is pretty funny....I think you are riht though, obese people shouldn't sit at the exit, in case of an emergency - what's the chances of that happening, we got great flightcrew up front? right? :rolleyes: I wonder if it affects the COG of the aircraft?

only joking lo,
cya,
Matthew