EasyJet Passenger Attempts Door Opening in Flight
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EasyJet Passenger Attempts Door Opening in Flight
"Mildly" Eccentric Stardriver
Experts said that if the door had opened the sudden decompression could have seen passengers sucked out and the cabin temperature plummet dangerously low.
Errr? Experts?
Errr? Experts?
He'd have to be awfully strong!!!!!
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But the issue about the temperature drop is a different issue.
I did the hypobaric chamber thing at Andrews AFB decades ago. Rapid decompression does cause the temperature to drop to -50. But the thin air has no bite. I was wearing a T-shirt and the chill was enough to remind me of the temperature, but for the five or so minutes of my exposure, it was not uncomfortable - and certainly not dangerous. Of course, a key point in the training was the use of the oxygen masks.
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The only incident i can think of where a CC was ejected was Aloha 243 where sadly a female CC was sucked through a fuselage rupture.
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There was a fatal door mishap with a corporate DHC-6 in Y2K:
Published 4:00 am PST, Tuesday, December 19, 2000 The 31-year-old Hewlett Packard employee who fell 2,000 feet from a company plane traveling to San Jose from Placer County last week committed suicide, the Sacramento County Coroner ruled yesterday. Elisabeth Mathilde Otto opened an emergency exit and plunged from the DeHavilland DHC-6 airplane shortly after the plane left Sacramento Executive Airport on Thursday night. Authorities found her body the next day in a vegetable garden just south of Sacramento.
The coroner's autopsy report said Otto died from injures suffered in her fall.
Family members reportedly had urged Otto to seek counseling because she seemed depressed, according to a source close to the investigation. Otto, a Dutch citizen, recently moved to San Francisco from Europe to work in HP's purchasing department. The 15-seat plane is leased by HP and makes regular flights between Lincoln Regional Airport and San Jose, carrying passengers between HP facilities in Roseville and San Jose.
According to authorities, the plane took off from Lincoln on Thursday afternoon but made an unscheduled, precautionary stop at Sacramento Executive after a warning light indicated the cabin door was unlocked.
After securing the door, the plane took off again and a few minutes later Otto forced open the door and jumped. The co-pilot closed the door and the plane continued to San Jose, the pilots unaware that Otto was gone.
Woman Falls or Leaps to Death From Corporate Plane
REBECCA TROUNSON LA TIMES STAFF WRITER
December 16, 2000
Despite a frantic attempt by a fellow passenger to save her, an employee of high-technology giant Hewlett-Packard Co. plunged to her death after she leaped or fell from a corporate plane 2,000 feet above Sacramento, the FBI said Friday.
The body of the young woman, dressed in a dark suit, was found Friday afternoon in a field behind a home in south Sacramento, officials said.
The Sacramento County coroner's office identified her as Elisabeth Mathild Otto. A Hewlett-Packard spokesman said she was 29 and was an employee of HP Germany who was on temporary assignment in the corporation's Northern California offices.
In a bizarre twist, two passengers who saw the woman fall from the plane's rear door, including a man who lunged for her and tried to pull her back inside, were evidently so distraught that they were unable to tell the crew what happened until after the plane landed in San Jose about 6 p.m. Thursday, an FBI spokesman said. Police were notified 45 minutes later.
Spokesman Andrew Black said the FBI had ruled out foul play. "It seems to be either an accident or a possible suicide," he said.
The twin-engine plane, a 15-seat de Havilland [Twin] Otter, carried five passengers and two pilots when it left Lincoln Regional Airport near Roseville, northeast of Sacramento, late Thursday afternoon, officials said. Hewlett-Packard operates the shuttle as a regular service for employees commuting between its Silicon Valley offices and its facilities in Roseville.
Soon after takeoff, the pilot noticed a warning light indicating a problem with the right rear door and made an emergency landing at Sacramento Executive Airport, a municipal airport that handles private and corporate traffic, the FBI said.
The pilot checked the door, determined there was no problem and took off again en route to San Jose. Three minutes later, the door opened.
"The lady was in the last seat by the door," said Brent Botta, a second FBI spokesman. "A gentleman seated in front of her turned around, saw the door was ajar and she was partly out. He lunged, grabbed her arm and shoulder and tried to pull her back inside."
Otto slipped through the man's grasp, Botta said.
The open door set off another alarm in the cockpit and the co-pilot rushed into the cabin and managed to reseat the standing male passenger and close the door, Botta said.
But the co-pilot apparently did not notice that the woman was missing, and the other passengers were too upset to speak, the spokesman said.
Amid the confusion and noise in the small, non-pressurized plane, the co-pilot may have assumed the man still standing was upset because the door was open, Botta said. The co-pilot had to struggle to get the man back into his seat, the spokesman said.
"It's extremely strange, obviously a very stressful situation," he said.
A San Jose police spokesman said a 911 call was received at 6:43 p.m. Thursday from a mechanic at San Jose airport.
The woman's body was found Friday afternoon in a field near a community vegetable garden.
Jerry Snyder, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Authority's Western Pacific region, said a preliminary investigation found that the door was working properly and could not have opened on its own.
Snyder said the FAA did not believe the pilot and co-pilot had erred in continuing the flight to San Jose after the incident.
"The inspectors found that they acted in accordance with all regulations and requirements," he said.
He said the investigation would not be completed for several weeks.
Hewlett-Packard spokesman Dave Berman said the young woman, a Dutch citizen, worked for the corporation's procurement department and was on assignment in its Palo Alto and Roseville offices. She was living in San Francisco.
In a statement, Hewlett-Packard said it was deeply saddened by the incident but would release no further details out of respect for the woman and her family.
December 16, 2000
Despite a frantic attempt by a fellow passenger to save her, an employee of high-technology giant Hewlett-Packard Co. plunged to her death after she leaped or fell from a corporate plane 2,000 feet above Sacramento, the FBI said Friday.
The body of the young woman, dressed in a dark suit, was found Friday afternoon in a field behind a home in south Sacramento, officials said.
The Sacramento County coroner's office identified her as Elisabeth Mathild Otto. A Hewlett-Packard spokesman said she was 29 and was an employee of HP Germany who was on temporary assignment in the corporation's Northern California offices.
In a bizarre twist, two passengers who saw the woman fall from the plane's rear door, including a man who lunged for her and tried to pull her back inside, were evidently so distraught that they were unable to tell the crew what happened until after the plane landed in San Jose about 6 p.m. Thursday, an FBI spokesman said. Police were notified 45 minutes later.
Spokesman Andrew Black said the FBI had ruled out foul play. "It seems to be either an accident or a possible suicide," he said.
The twin-engine plane, a 15-seat de Havilland [Twin] Otter, carried five passengers and two pilots when it left Lincoln Regional Airport near Roseville, northeast of Sacramento, late Thursday afternoon, officials said. Hewlett-Packard operates the shuttle as a regular service for employees commuting between its Silicon Valley offices and its facilities in Roseville.
Soon after takeoff, the pilot noticed a warning light indicating a problem with the right rear door and made an emergency landing at Sacramento Executive Airport, a municipal airport that handles private and corporate traffic, the FBI said.
The pilot checked the door, determined there was no problem and took off again en route to San Jose. Three minutes later, the door opened.
"The lady was in the last seat by the door," said Brent Botta, a second FBI spokesman. "A gentleman seated in front of her turned around, saw the door was ajar and she was partly out. He lunged, grabbed her arm and shoulder and tried to pull her back inside."
Otto slipped through the man's grasp, Botta said.
The open door set off another alarm in the cockpit and the co-pilot rushed into the cabin and managed to reseat the standing male passenger and close the door, Botta said.
But the co-pilot apparently did not notice that the woman was missing, and the other passengers were too upset to speak, the spokesman said.
Amid the confusion and noise in the small, non-pressurized plane, the co-pilot may have assumed the man still standing was upset because the door was open, Botta said. The co-pilot had to struggle to get the man back into his seat, the spokesman said.
"It's extremely strange, obviously a very stressful situation," he said.
A San Jose police spokesman said a 911 call was received at 6:43 p.m. Thursday from a mechanic at San Jose airport.
The woman's body was found Friday afternoon in a field near a community vegetable garden.
Jerry Snyder, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Authority's Western Pacific region, said a preliminary investigation found that the door was working properly and could not have opened on its own.
Snyder said the FAA did not believe the pilot and co-pilot had erred in continuing the flight to San Jose after the incident.
"The inspectors found that they acted in accordance with all regulations and requirements," he said.
He said the investigation would not be completed for several weeks.
Hewlett-Packard spokesman Dave Berman said the young woman, a Dutch citizen, worked for the corporation's procurement department and was on assignment in its Palo Alto and Roseville offices. She was living in San Francisco.
In a statement, Hewlett-Packard said it was deeply saddened by the incident but would release no further details out of respect for the woman and her family.
Passenger's Fall From Airplane Ruled a Suicide / Family had reportedly urged woman to seek counseling
SF Chronicle Staff and News ServicesPublished 4:00 am PST, Tuesday, December 19, 2000 The 31-year-old Hewlett Packard employee who fell 2,000 feet from a company plane traveling to San Jose from Placer County last week committed suicide, the Sacramento County Coroner ruled yesterday. Elisabeth Mathilde Otto opened an emergency exit and plunged from the DeHavilland DHC-6 airplane shortly after the plane left Sacramento Executive Airport on Thursday night. Authorities found her body the next day in a vegetable garden just south of Sacramento.
The coroner's autopsy report said Otto died from injures suffered in her fall.
Family members reportedly had urged Otto to seek counseling because she seemed depressed, according to a source close to the investigation. Otto, a Dutch citizen, recently moved to San Francisco from Europe to work in HP's purchasing department. The 15-seat plane is leased by HP and makes regular flights between Lincoln Regional Airport and San Jose, carrying passengers between HP facilities in Roseville and San Jose.
According to authorities, the plane took off from Lincoln on Thursday afternoon but made an unscheduled, precautionary stop at Sacramento Executive after a warning light indicated the cabin door was unlocked.
After securing the door, the plane took off again and a few minutes later Otto forced open the door and jumped. The co-pilot closed the door and the plane continued to San Jose, the pilots unaware that Otto was gone.
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Doors prove deadly if opened when cabin remains pressurized
Exit doors intended to save lives during an emergency evacuation need to be designed so they do not inadvertently kill or injure door operators if the cabin remains pressurized. The doors need to feature a vent or gate so that they can be opened safely even if the cabin pressurization system is malfunctioning.An August 2 recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited the Nov. 20, 2000, accident in which flight attendant/purser Jose Chiu was hurled more than 40 feet out of the left main door when it suddenly blew open as he attempted to open it during an emergency evacuation of the American Airlines [AMR] twinjet at Miami. The accident involved an Airbus A300-605R with 133 passengers and crew on board. Chiu, who by one account was thrown beyond the wingtip, was killed on impact with the concrete tarmac.
A similar case occurred almost a year later, on October 20, 2001, involving an A300-605R operated by TunisAir. While an air stair was being positioned for normal deplaning, engine bleed air kept the cabin pressurized. Excessive cabin air caused the door to burst open. The flight attendant attempting to open the door was ejected, sustaining serious injuries. A second flight attendant at the doorway also ejected was killed.
In the case of the American Airlines fatality, the airplane took off from Miami for a planned flight to Haiti. Climbing through 16,000 feet, the ECAM [electronic centralized aircraft monitoring] display indicated that the forward cabin outflow valve was fully open (actually, according to sources, insulation blankets had clogged the valve).
The aircraft pressurization system may be described as akin to a leaky balloon. Bleed air from the engines pressurizes the cabin to an artificial altitude of 8,000 feet, and one or more outflow valves regulates the discharge of cabin air to maintain a constant "cabin altitude" and to prevent sudden pressure changes during climb/descent (which passengers may notice by a popping of the ears).
Just 11 minutes after departure, and with warnings sounding from lavatory smoke detectors and a warning light indicating a possible fire in the belly hold (both false, as it turned out) the captain determined to return to Miami. He ordered an emergency evacuation upon landing.The cabin pressure actually increased after landing, and the panoply of warnings persisted. With the cabin pressurized, none of the emergency exit doors could be opened. That is, until Door 1L suddenly blew open, ejecting flight attendant Chiu. Cabin overpressure was relieved, and all other doors with handles in the open position opened and their escape slides deployed.Given the likelihood of future failures to outflow valves, the NTSB believes this type of overpressurization event "could occur again."
Exit doors intended to save lives during an emergency evacuation need to be designed so they do not inadvertently kill or injure door operators if the cabin remains pressurized. The doors need to feature a vent or gate so that they can be opened safely even if the cabin pressurization system is malfunctioning.An August 2 recommendation from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited the Nov. 20, 2000, accident in which flight attendant/purser Jose Chiu was hurled more than 40 feet out of the left main door when it suddenly blew open as he attempted to open it during an emergency evacuation of the American Airlines [AMR] twinjet at Miami. The accident involved an Airbus A300-605R with 133 passengers and crew on board. Chiu, who by one account was thrown beyond the wingtip, was killed on impact with the concrete tarmac.
A similar case occurred almost a year later, on October 20, 2001, involving an A300-605R operated by TunisAir. While an air stair was being positioned for normal deplaning, engine bleed air kept the cabin pressurized. Excessive cabin air caused the door to burst open. The flight attendant attempting to open the door was ejected, sustaining serious injuries. A second flight attendant at the doorway also ejected was killed.
In the case of the American Airlines fatality, the airplane took off from Miami for a planned flight to Haiti. Climbing through 16,000 feet, the ECAM [electronic centralized aircraft monitoring] display indicated that the forward cabin outflow valve was fully open (actually, according to sources, insulation blankets had clogged the valve).
Just 11 minutes after departure, and with warnings sounding from lavatory smoke detectors and a warning light indicating a possible fire in the belly hold (both false, as it turned out) the captain determined to return to Miami. He ordered an emergency evacuation upon landing.The cabin pressure actually increased after landing, and the panoply of warnings persisted. With the cabin pressurized, none of the emergency exit doors could be opened. That is, until Door 1L suddenly blew open, ejecting flight attendant Chiu. Cabin overpressure was relieved, and all other doors with handles in the open position opened and their escape slides deployed.Given the likelihood of future failures to outflow valves, the NTSB believes this type of overpressurization event "could occur again."
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"Rapid decompression does cause the temperature to drop to -50. But the thin air has no bite."
Well,,aren't we forgetting the chill factor here...@ 400+knots!!!
As they say in Italy..."*****"!
Well,,aren't we forgetting the chill factor here...@ 400+knots!!!
As they say in Italy..."*****"!
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If it is so impossible to open a door in a pressurised cabin, why risk injury to crew by trying to restrain a hopeful passenger? Just let them exhaust themselves (excuse the pun)...
mjb
mjb
