Unruly passenger diverts and disembarks himself
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Unruly passenger diverts and disembarks himself
The Canadian Press
April 16, 2009 at 12:24 PM EDT
CAMBRIDGE BAY, Nunavut — Pilots on a northern charter flight had to declare an on-board emergency when an unruly passenger opened an exit door and jumped.
RCMP say the King Air 200 was flying from Yellowknife to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, on Wednesday when the pilots made the distress call.
Officers who met the plane at Cambridge Bay Airport were told a 20-year-old resident of the community had jumped out of the aircraft while it was about 7,000 metres above sea level.
Police say the pilots “made every possible effort” to stop him.
They managed to land the plane safely without injury to the crew or remaining passenger.
A search for the man has been delayed due to poor weather in the area.
April 16, 2009 at 12:24 PM EDT
CAMBRIDGE BAY, Nunavut — Pilots on a northern charter flight had to declare an on-board emergency when an unruly passenger opened an exit door and jumped.
RCMP say the King Air 200 was flying from Yellowknife to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, on Wednesday when the pilots made the distress call.
Officers who met the plane at Cambridge Bay Airport were told a 20-year-old resident of the community had jumped out of the aircraft while it was about 7,000 metres above sea level.
Police say the pilots “made every possible effort” to stop him.
They managed to land the plane safely without injury to the crew or remaining passenger.
A search for the man has been delayed due to poor weather in the area.
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These things happen from time to time, a few other instances:
Passenger Fell Out
AROUND THE NATION; Passenger Jumps From Commuter Plane - New York Times
Tourist jumps out of plane without a parachute - Paknam Web Thailand Forums
https://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-72935.html
Could A Passenger Have Fallen Out Of Plane? — Civil Aviation Forum | Airliners.net
Passenger Fell Out
AROUND THE NATION; Passenger Jumps From Commuter Plane - New York Times
Tourist jumps out of plane without a parachute - Paknam Web Thailand Forums
https://www.pprune.org/archive/index.php/t-72935.html
Could A Passenger Have Fallen Out Of Plane? — Civil Aviation Forum | Airliners.net
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Darwin award nomination anyone??? The kicker is how he was described as a unruely passenger by the reporting source, no federal marshall needed here folks or guns in the cockpit.
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Emergency exits
In the early 1970s I flew for Valley Airlines, one of the early commuter carriers in California. We had 5 or 6 Volpar Beach 18s.
We were about halfway from Santa Barbara to Monterey, CA. For once, both P&W R-985s were humming smoothly. Suddenly, it got very breezy in the the cabin. I looked back (no cockpit door), and there's this guy gazing around the cabin with no emergency exit door next to him whistling as if to say, "It wasn't me!"
I slowed to around 90kts to lower the noise level, and we landed at Monterey.
The guy insisted that the door just flew off on it's own. No one saw him playing with the handle, so I couldn't press it any further.
The company flew a replacement exit door down from Oakland, and we continued the day's circuit. At San Jose, a woman remarked on boarding that we should paint our airplanes because that window didn't match the rest of the paint scheme
We were about halfway from Santa Barbara to Monterey, CA. For once, both P&W R-985s were humming smoothly. Suddenly, it got very breezy in the the cabin. I looked back (no cockpit door), and there's this guy gazing around the cabin with no emergency exit door next to him whistling as if to say, "It wasn't me!"
I slowed to around 90kts to lower the noise level, and we landed at Monterey.
The guy insisted that the door just flew off on it's own. No one saw him playing with the handle, so I couldn't press it any further.
The company flew a replacement exit door down from Oakland, and we continued the day's circuit. At San Jose, a woman remarked on boarding that we should paint our airplanes because that window didn't match the rest of the paint scheme
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unruly passenger opens an exit and jumps out (plane was at around FL220)
CTV.ca | Plane passenger opens exit door and jumps
Pilots on a northern charter flight had to declare an on-board emergency when an unruly passenger opened an exit door and jumped.
RCMP say the King Air 200 was flying from Yellowknife to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, on Wednesday when the pilots made the distress call.
Officers who met the plane at Cambridge Bay Airport were told a 20-year-old resident of the community had jumped out of the aircraft while it was about 7,000 metres above sea level.
Police say the pilots "made every possible effort" to stop him.
They managed to land the plane safely without injury to the crew or remaining passenger.
A search for the man has been delayed due to poor weather in the area.
Pilots on a northern charter flight had to declare an on-board emergency when an unruly passenger opened an exit door and jumped.
RCMP say the King Air 200 was flying from Yellowknife to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, on Wednesday when the pilots made the distress call.
Officers who met the plane at Cambridge Bay Airport were told a 20-year-old resident of the community had jumped out of the aircraft while it was about 7,000 metres above sea level.
Police say the pilots "made every possible effort" to stop him.
They managed to land the plane safely without injury to the crew or remaining passenger.
A search for the man has been delayed due to poor weather in the area.
Aviator Extraordinaire
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This reminds me of the woman that jumped out of a corporate Dash 8, I believe it was, in the LA area in California. You have to wonder what was going on in their minds. Sad story.
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Unruly man jumps from plane in Nunavut, crew hailed for landing safely - Yahoo! Canada News
Nunavut - A distraught man who jumped out of a small plane at 7,000 metres over Nunavut was remembered as a young, hardworking apprentice mechanic who liked to help fix people's bicycles.
The man's grief-stricken friends and family gathered Thursday in the tiny community of Cambridge Bay to try and cope with his death, wondering why he jumped - an act that forced the crew of the King Air 200 to make an emergency landing with its door open, putting their lives at risk.
"Ever since he was a young guy he was always fixing up people's bikes and tinkering with things, he had a lot of great qualities," said family friend Wilf Wilcox.
"This whole thing is just mind-boggling. He had so many good things going for him. Whatever led to this is a real tragedy."
The man, who has not been identified by RCMP, was a member of a prominent family in Cambridge Bay. He was between jobs and was in a common-law relationship.
Wilcox said the man was a lively guy who enjoyed playing hockey.
"He was a spirited individual and this is a big loss. This has brought a lot of sadness to our house."
The aviation community in the North is abuzz with praise for the two-person flight crew which managed to land the plane after declaring an on-board emergency Wednesday afternoon.
Pilots say the cabin of the plane would have quickly depressurized, filling the cockpit with a roar of frigid, Arctic air.
Paul Laserich, general manager of the small family-owned airline that has operated in the North for more than 25 years, paid tribute to the two pilots.
"I am quite proud of my flight crew. They brought the ship safely back."
He declined to say anything about the man who jumped, other than to reach out to his relatives.
"Our condolences and thoughts and prayers are with the family."
RCMP say the drama began when the pilots on the plane en route from Yellowknife reported that a passenger had become unruly. They told police they tried everything they could to prevent him from jumping.
Police interviewed the crew and the remaining passenger, a woman who was not related to the man.
"The plane came in with the door open," said Staff Sgt. Harold Trupish. "Somehow they were able to control the aircraft to land. The three other people are all OK."
RCMP were using a Twin Otter aircraft to search for the man's body Thursday.
The Transportation Safety Board was informed of the incident, but was not investigating. The board said it was providing technical support to police.
"This is not a safety-related matter in terms of the operation of the aircraft or in terms of the mechanical adequacy of the aircraft," said board spokesman John Cottreau from Ottawa.
"All I can tell you is that this is a matter for the RCMP and the coroner's office."
Word quickly spread among the small aircraft charter companies that fly in the North.
A pilot from another airline said dealing with such a depressurization emergency at that altitude would have been frightening and challenging.
"The shock of it. It would have been instantly cold," said the man, who declined to be identified.
"You would have a hard time breathing. Things would have been flying around the airplane. It would have been mass confusion."
The pilot said instructions for opening the exits are printed clearly on the inside of the door in case they have to be opened by a passenger in an emergency.
The incident cast a pall over the community as people sought information about what happened and speculated on why the man jumped.
"The whole town is pretty shaken up about it," said Max Dolling, manager of the Cambridge Bay Hotel.
"Everybody knows that a door was opened and the young man left the airplane. That's about it."
Tributes to the man who jumped were flowing in online.
"You will always be thought of and never forgotten ... but you're in God's hands now. Miss you, terribly. Shocked," wrote one woman.
"Well, you are in a better place now," wrote another. "Although you will be missed dearly, you are always in my heart."
Nunavut - A distraught man who jumped out of a small plane at 7,000 metres over Nunavut was remembered as a young, hardworking apprentice mechanic who liked to help fix people's bicycles.
The man's grief-stricken friends and family gathered Thursday in the tiny community of Cambridge Bay to try and cope with his death, wondering why he jumped - an act that forced the crew of the King Air 200 to make an emergency landing with its door open, putting their lives at risk.
"Ever since he was a young guy he was always fixing up people's bikes and tinkering with things, he had a lot of great qualities," said family friend Wilf Wilcox.
"This whole thing is just mind-boggling. He had so many good things going for him. Whatever led to this is a real tragedy."
The man, who has not been identified by RCMP, was a member of a prominent family in Cambridge Bay. He was between jobs and was in a common-law relationship.
Wilcox said the man was a lively guy who enjoyed playing hockey.
"He was a spirited individual and this is a big loss. This has brought a lot of sadness to our house."
The aviation community in the North is abuzz with praise for the two-person flight crew which managed to land the plane after declaring an on-board emergency Wednesday afternoon.
Pilots say the cabin of the plane would have quickly depressurized, filling the cockpit with a roar of frigid, Arctic air.
Paul Laserich, general manager of the small family-owned airline that has operated in the North for more than 25 years, paid tribute to the two pilots.
"I am quite proud of my flight crew. They brought the ship safely back."
He declined to say anything about the man who jumped, other than to reach out to his relatives.
"Our condolences and thoughts and prayers are with the family."
RCMP say the drama began when the pilots on the plane en route from Yellowknife reported that a passenger had become unruly. They told police they tried everything they could to prevent him from jumping.
Police interviewed the crew and the remaining passenger, a woman who was not related to the man.
"The plane came in with the door open," said Staff Sgt. Harold Trupish. "Somehow they were able to control the aircraft to land. The three other people are all OK."
RCMP were using a Twin Otter aircraft to search for the man's body Thursday.
The Transportation Safety Board was informed of the incident, but was not investigating. The board said it was providing technical support to police.
"This is not a safety-related matter in terms of the operation of the aircraft or in terms of the mechanical adequacy of the aircraft," said board spokesman John Cottreau from Ottawa.
"All I can tell you is that this is a matter for the RCMP and the coroner's office."
Word quickly spread among the small aircraft charter companies that fly in the North.
A pilot from another airline said dealing with such a depressurization emergency at that altitude would have been frightening and challenging.
"The shock of it. It would have been instantly cold," said the man, who declined to be identified.
"You would have a hard time breathing. Things would have been flying around the airplane. It would have been mass confusion."
The pilot said instructions for opening the exits are printed clearly on the inside of the door in case they have to be opened by a passenger in an emergency.
The incident cast a pall over the community as people sought information about what happened and speculated on why the man jumped.
"The whole town is pretty shaken up about it," said Max Dolling, manager of the Cambridge Bay Hotel.
"Everybody knows that a door was opened and the young man left the airplane. That's about it."
Tributes to the man who jumped were flowing in online.
"You will always be thought of and never forgotten ... but you're in God's hands now. Miss you, terribly. Shocked," wrote one woman.
"Well, you are in a better place now," wrote another. "Although you will be missed dearly, you are always in my heart."
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Ex-SAS man in plane death fall
It happens. See above.
By the sound of it the poor lad was troubled. I'm sorry to hear it.
I knew of ''Tom Read'', before I heard the news of his death.
A brave man, let down i believe.
It happens. See above.
By the sound of it the poor lad was troubled. I'm sorry to hear it.
I knew of ''Tom Read'', before I heard the news of his death.
A brave man, let down i believe.
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As an ignorant SLF, can I ask a question? I had always understood that at that kind of pressure, even if a passenger tried to open the door, they would not have the strength to do so. Is that just another urban myth? Could he have done this in a larger aircraft, such as a 320 or 737?
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A sad story, and meaning no disrespect, but:
I think any layman (or even a reporter) could have guessed that, I wonder why they needed multiple pilot sources.
Over Nunavut? Quelle surprise!
Pilots say the cabin of the plane would have quickly depressurized ...
filling the cockpit with ... Arctic air
Bottums Up
jimworcs
The Kingair door is not a plug door. The door is supported open by steel cable on either side of the door, which double as a hand-hold.
The door is held closed by 4 barrels that rotate around lugs in the door frame when the locking mechanism is actuated. Whether one could open them when the aircraft is pressurised, I couldn't say.
On the 737, A320 and most if not all transport jets, the exit doors are plug doors. They're larger than the door opening, and generally open inwards to some extent, before being mechanically positioned so that they can fit through the smaller opening. Thus, with the pressure differential of anything from 6 psi or more, the pressure forcing a plug exit on its frame is many hundreds of pounds (6+ psi x area of door), and prevents opening whilst the aircraft is pressurised.
HOWEVER, for those quick to criticise the victim, the Kingair has been known for the poor door locking & warning mechanism, such that when one shuts the door, if one checked the position of the locking barrels against the lugs, one can ignore a subsequent door warning.
Kingair doors have also been known to open in flight. One famous incident, circa 1980's (I think), saw a Kingair Captain investigate a door warning in flight, leaving the Co-pilot at the controls. The door opened, the Captain went out, and was found once landed, hanging upside down with a death-grip on the lower door supports.
From this thread, it's not possible to say for sure, if the victim opened the door, or, perhaps, it opened on him, and he wasn't as lucky as the aforementioned Captain.
The Kingair door is not a plug door. The door is supported open by steel cable on either side of the door, which double as a hand-hold.
The door is held closed by 4 barrels that rotate around lugs in the door frame when the locking mechanism is actuated. Whether one could open them when the aircraft is pressurised, I couldn't say.
On the 737, A320 and most if not all transport jets, the exit doors are plug doors. They're larger than the door opening, and generally open inwards to some extent, before being mechanically positioned so that they can fit through the smaller opening. Thus, with the pressure differential of anything from 6 psi or more, the pressure forcing a plug exit on its frame is many hundreds of pounds (6+ psi x area of door), and prevents opening whilst the aircraft is pressurised.
HOWEVER, for those quick to criticise the victim, the Kingair has been known for the poor door locking & warning mechanism, such that when one shuts the door, if one checked the position of the locking barrels against the lugs, one can ignore a subsequent door warning.
Kingair doors have also been known to open in flight. One famous incident, circa 1980's (I think), saw a Kingair Captain investigate a door warning in flight, leaving the Co-pilot at the controls. The door opened, the Captain went out, and was found once landed, hanging upside down with a death-grip on the lower door supports.
From this thread, it's not possible to say for sure, if the victim opened the door, or, perhaps, it opened on him, and he wasn't as lucky as the aforementioned Captain.
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On the 737, A320 and most if not all transport jets, the exit doors are plug doors. They're larger than the door opening, and generally open inwards to some extent, before being mechanically positioned so that they can fit through the smaller opening. Thus, with the pressure differential of anything from 6 psi or more, the pressure forcing a plug exit on its frame is many hundreds of pounds (6+ psi x area of door), and prevents opening whilst the aircraft is pressurised.
And trying to be ontopic ... i don't think you can open a door in the 320 in flight, the door will have to slide up and with some pressure i think it may not be the easiest thing to do (however i wouldn't try this)
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Capt Claret,
An interesting & useful post, thanks.
As for the poor guy who apparently jumped, I doubt we'll ever know.
As an aviation photographer I've happily hung outside aircraft to waist level, 'secured' by a wire-locked sailing dinghy trapeze harness - yet I am bothered if on a house level ladder.
It all seems very abstract at a couple of thousand feet...
An interesting & useful post, thanks.
As for the poor guy who apparently jumped, I doubt we'll ever know.
As an aviation photographer I've happily hung outside aircraft to waist level, 'secured' by a wire-locked sailing dinghy trapeze harness - yet I am bothered if on a house level ladder.
It all seems very abstract at a couple of thousand feet...
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As Captain Claret points out Kingair doors have opened in flight before. On nothing but the evidence here, it is not clear that the young man was suicidal. He might have as much a victim as the unfortunate captain who fell out of his aeroplane while checking the security of a door in flight.. Rather than making silly jokes I hope we will wait for the RCMP report. Only then will the dscoverable facts be known. Praise is also due to the crew for their handling of a most unpleasant emergency.
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HOWEVER, for those quick to criticise the victim, the Kingair has been known for the poor door locking & warning mechanism, such that when one shuts the door, if one checked the position of the locking barrels against the lugs, one can ignore a subsequent door warning.
Kingair doors have also been known to open in flight. One famous incident, circa 1980's (I think), saw a Kingair Captain investigate a door warning in flight, leaving the Co-pilot at the controls. The door opened, the Captain went out, and was found once landed, hanging upside down with a death-grip on the lower door supports.
From this thread, it's not possible to say for sure, if the victim opened the door, or, perhaps, it opened on him, and he wasn't as lucky as the aforementioned Captain.
Kingair doors have also been known to open in flight. One famous incident, circa 1980's (I think), saw a Kingair Captain investigate a door warning in flight, leaving the Co-pilot at the controls. The door opened, the Captain went out, and was found once landed, hanging upside down with a death-grip on the lower door supports.
From this thread, it's not possible to say for sure, if the victim opened the door, or, perhaps, it opened on him, and he wasn't as lucky as the aforementioned Captain.
The WARNING itself is from a microswitch with a arm and a little roll, when poorly adjusted (mainly when adjusted in warm climate) it gives spurios or continuos warning (RED LIGHT on Warn panel). Problem is the shrinking of metal in the cold. The early issues with I think a total of 5 lost doors is solved since roughly 25 years ago, and to my knowledge there has been no lost doors ever since. The dor is attached on the bottom with piano type hinge and one cable (second is an option)plus the damper. There have been incidences when the damper didnt work, the door hinge became partly ruptured, but has nothing to do with this incident. I would think that the damper is the strongest attachment to the airframe. BTW there are also 2 hooks on the top of the door (opposite side of the hinge) that pull the door in, connected to the rotate handle as the plungers are.
The check after closing the door is to look at all 4 plungers (green tape at mark) then lift one door step and check a red plate that goes around a round piece. That thing is lighted, versus the unlighted 4 plunger holes.
Nothing is impossible, but a malfunctioning door mechanism or improper closed door is what I consider less likely.
dkz
The a320 doors are the plug type, watch what happens during the first quarter movement of the opening handle. The door moves IN and UP before being able to be pushed out on the hinge.
The a320 doors are the plug type, watch what happens during the first quarter movement of the opening handle. The door moves IN and UP before being able to be pushed out on the hinge.
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The pilot was said to be too distressed to talk to reporters.
A passenger on a charter flight in northern Canada forced open the aircraft's door and leapt to his death, making the freezing cabin depressurise at 23,000ft.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sgt Harold Trupish said the incident happened during a flight to Cambridge Bay, a community in western Nunavut.
The Adlair Aviation King Air 200 twin-engined turboprop was about 110 miles from the Cambridge Bay airport when the man jumped.
Staff Sgt Trupish said the pilots reported that the 20-year-old passenger had become unruly and that they were unable to prevent him from jumping.
Police are searching for the body of the man, who was not named.
Paul Laserich, the airline's general manager said the opened door caused the cabin to depressurise, filling the cockpit with a roar of frigid, Arctic air. He praised the pilot for his quick-thinking decision to land the aircraft.
"They brought the ship safely back. Everybody is OK. They are a little shaken up. They are OK. That is what is most important," said Mr Laserich.
The pilot was said to be too distressed to talk to reporters.
Royal Canadian Mounted Police Staff Sgt Harold Trupish said the incident happened during a flight to Cambridge Bay, a community in western Nunavut.
The Adlair Aviation King Air 200 twin-engined turboprop was about 110 miles from the Cambridge Bay airport when the man jumped.
Staff Sgt Trupish said the pilots reported that the 20-year-old passenger had become unruly and that they were unable to prevent him from jumping.
Police are searching for the body of the man, who was not named.
Paul Laserich, the airline's general manager said the opened door caused the cabin to depressurise, filling the cockpit with a roar of frigid, Arctic air. He praised the pilot for his quick-thinking decision to land the aircraft.
"They brought the ship safely back. Everybody is OK. They are a little shaken up. They are OK. That is what is most important," said Mr Laserich.
The pilot was said to be too distressed to talk to reporters.