Reuters: Asiana passenger reportedly opens A321 emergency exit during approach
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Im saying the power assist was obviously able to overcome it, so yes.
From what I understand, there’s a whole section of door at the top that folds inwards (but not by much) this allows the door to move upwards and over the door stops, then out. So the pressurisation should hold the door against the stops, and not allow the panel at the top to move inwards.
The panel doesn't play any part in containing or relieving cabin pressure, nor in allowing upward movement of the door.
In the photo of the Asiana aircraft, one of the two supports can be seen to have detached and is hanging down.
"Mildly" Eccentric Stardriver
I'm puzzled. It's not an overwing, but the No. 3 door. Surely, to open that, the passenger would have had to be unstrapped and standing up. Anybody able to add to that?
The panel is just a relatively flimsy bit of falsework that conceals the two upper door supports when the door is closed and drops down when the door is opening to allow clearance for them to operate:
The panel doesn't play any part in containing or relieving cabin pressure, nor in allowing upward movement of the door.
In the photo of the Asiana aircraft, one of the two supports can be seen to have detached and is hanging down.
The panel doesn't play any part in containing or relieving cabin pressure, nor in allowing upward movement of the door.
In the photo of the Asiana aircraft, one of the two supports can be seen to have detached and is hanging down.
I still don’t think you can open a door against the stops while it’s fully pressurised. Just imagine if you could. What the consequences of that would be. And the doors aren’t guarded during flight. It would be far too easy to do some major damage and kill a lot of people.
Can the door "hydraulics" be adjusted up/down to accomadate lighter framed cabin crew? Seems strange it could overcome 180/200 mph breeze from the front...even edge on that'a a lot of door!!
There are no hydraulics. It's purely mechanical and no, not adjustable. The emergency assist is provided by a pressurised nitrogen bottle through a pneumatic ram.
This is the first case of the emergency exit door being opened mid air for a suicide attempt. What's to prevent this occurring again now that we know these emergency exit doors easily open mid air? It doesn't fill me with confidence. Next time I'm on an airbus should I worry about the state of mind of the passengers sitting beside emergency exits. It took 911 to make great safety changes. Maybe airbus should look into this.
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This is the first case of the emergency exit door being opened mid air for a suicide attempt. What's to prevent this occurring again now that we know these emergency exit doors easily open mid air? It doesn't fill me with confidence. Next time I'm on an airbus should I worry about the state of mind of the passengers sitting beside emergency exits. It took 911 to make great safety changes. Maybe airbus should look into this.
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At 300 fps it's roughly 0.75psi dynamic pressure, so on a 5 inch thick * 80 inch (edge-on) door, about 300 pounds of force. Seems a bit high for a person, but the passenger can get some good footing to brace that motion. At 200 fps it's down to only 130 pounds of force.
How glorious - 1 foot per second ~ 1 kph and 1 kph is about 0.54 knts.
Not only keep your seatbelt on but also stow all items in preparation for landing.
Comparisons to car doors are a bit off as most people in cars would be using only their arms and not have a good position to apply much force and would be applying that force at the door handle, which is close to the hinge, decreasing the leverage they do have. There is also the non-linearity to the typical car door - the force increases as the door opening widens, where in this case the force is about the same once the door completely enters the airstream. It might even ease up a bit on the plane if the leading edge of the door enters first and is deflected outward by the oncoming wind.
The easy means to prevent this from happening in flight is keep the cabin pressure on a little bit until the plane exits the runway. Set the cabin altitude to 2-5000 feet below the runway altitude - that should keep the door shut. Bad news - that would add more ear drum distress to everyone else because of this twit.
This should be a reminder that if anyone is out of their seat when they should not be - everyone nearby should be out of their seat to stop them.
How glorious - 1 foot per second ~ 1 kph and 1 kph is about 0.54 knts.
Not only keep your seatbelt on but also stow all items in preparation for landing.
Comparisons to car doors are a bit off as most people in cars would be using only their arms and not have a good position to apply much force and would be applying that force at the door handle, which is close to the hinge, decreasing the leverage they do have. There is also the non-linearity to the typical car door - the force increases as the door opening widens, where in this case the force is about the same once the door completely enters the airstream. It might even ease up a bit on the plane if the leading edge of the door enters first and is deflected outward by the oncoming wind.
The easy means to prevent this from happening in flight is keep the cabin pressure on a little bit until the plane exits the runway. Set the cabin altitude to 2-5000 feet below the runway altitude - that should keep the door shut. Bad news - that would add more ear drum distress to everyone else because of this twit.
This should be a reminder that if anyone is out of their seat when they should not be - everyone nearby should be out of their seat to stop them.
Would you want to unbuckle to stop somebody crazy fiddling with the door handle? The flight attendant should be interfering, including violently if needed. They might need a legal permit to do so and some police training.
There will be many more airline passengers from third world countries in general in the future so its about time to think about better dealing with first timers, scared, uneducated and unable to read anything passengers on board aside from this person who felt "scared" and panicked.
There will be many more airline passengers from third world countries in general in the future so its about time to think about better dealing with first timers, scared, uneducated and unable to read anything passengers on board aside from this person who felt "scared" and panicked.
No - I want to unbuckle to stop anyone moving down the aisle before they get to the door, to the flight attendant, to whatever moron thing this person has in mind.
I think this particular passenger wasn't scared of flying and completely understood what was going on and intended to commit suicide; this wasn't panic - this was premeditated. Passengers did grab him and pull him back into the plane.
But that was this time. If that passenger had something else in mind it's in the best interest of the passengers to react rapidly. If, like 9/11, this was a distraction for a more involved scenario, squelching it is imperative.
I think this particular passenger wasn't scared of flying and completely understood what was going on and intended to commit suicide; this wasn't panic - this was premeditated. Passengers did grab him and pull him back into the plane.
But that was this time. If that passenger had something else in mind it's in the best interest of the passengers to react rapidly. If, like 9/11, this was a distraction for a more involved scenario, squelching it is imperative.
One of the main issues is that the passenger doesn’t have to even get up. They would have to move the door control handle to about the 90 degree position, the door will do the rest.
Apart from the obvious safety issues of having a door open inflight, the main “aircraft” safety issue is the deployment of the slide. If that thing gets wrapped round the tail you’re in a whole world of pain.
looking at what has happened here the aircraft is flyable with the door open, so at least that’s something.
I think having the cabin over pressurised to keep the door shut is a bad idea. If something were to happen on landing the aircraft would go up like a bomb.
The idea of a lock is something, but what if it doesn’t unlock in an emergency?
Maybe lowering the PSI in the power assist bottle would work, so the door cannot open into the slipstream?
Apart from the obvious safety issues of having a door open inflight, the main “aircraft” safety issue is the deployment of the slide. If that thing gets wrapped round the tail you’re in a whole world of pain.
looking at what has happened here the aircraft is flyable with the door open, so at least that’s something.
I think having the cabin over pressurised to keep the door shut is a bad idea. If something were to happen on landing the aircraft would go up like a bomb.
The idea of a lock is something, but what if it doesn’t unlock in an emergency?
Maybe lowering the PSI in the power assist bottle would work, so the door cannot open into the slipstream?
0.4 psi on the door would keep it shut. 30 inches X 80 inches -> ~1000 pounds of force to pull in against to get it off the stops.
It would not go off like a bomb. This is about the pressure at 1 foot of water depth (1/3 meter) - in the USA we call the cup that carries that much soda "Small."
It would not go off like a bomb. This is about the pressure at 1 foot of water depth (1/3 meter) - in the USA we call the cup that carries that much soda "Small."