Man tries to open door on QF2

[Kieran Wells]

Just heard on the 2UE 730 news a report that a man was getting adgitated towards the end of the flight this morning, and was trying to get up. He also was trying to open one of the doors. He was moved to the front of the aircraft and the flight landed normally. Couldn't find any further info on news.com.au etc..

[Anthony J]

Here you go:
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,27574...-29277,00.html

[Jack B]

is it possible to open the doors in flight?

I seem to recall a South African Airways flight many years ago in which all the doors were cracked during an inflight fire...

[Anthony J]

Only if the cabin is depressurised or at a very low differential.

In order to open a door to remove smoke (B747) the aircraft is first depressurised.

[Mick F]

Jack,
For doors which open inwards (plug type, the most common on airliners), it is basically impossible to open it unless as Anthony said, it's depressurised.

For doors which open outwards (such as one's on King Air's, PC-12's, smaller aircraft like that), there is normally some safety mechanism within the door itself which would shear the opening mechanism to prevent the door from being unlocked while pressurised.

Back to the plug type doors, if you could imagine the aircraft being pressurised with say 6psi (pretty typical, maybe some of the 767 and 747 drivers etc. could elaborate a bit more on the normal psi in cruise), and a door measuring 2m in height by 1.5m across (so 78.7in x 59.0in if my maths was correct), then you've effectively got 27.86 ton of force on the door (again, if my maths was correct). So good luck getting that one open, .

Mick

[Owen H]

Mick F,

It ususally sits above 8psi... making it even harder to open.

My guess is that even if you could get enough force upwards on the door handle it would shear before it opened.

[Steve S... 2]

So why bother reporting that somebody tried to open a door when it is impossible... I guess the media needs the $

[Matt R]

Originally Posted by Owen H

My guess is that even if you could get enough force upwards on the door handle it would shear before it opened.

That's what happened with the O2 bottle on QF30.

[Jack B]

Thanks for the info guys

[Ash W]

Originally Posted by Steve S... 2

So why bother reporting that somebody tried to open a door when it is impossible... I guess the media needs the $

It is still against the law to try and no doubt the guy got himself arrested on arrival.