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Is there any such lock mechanism on the doors of an airplane? I would imagine there could be sever consequences of someone opening an emergency hatch at 10,000

Is there any such lock mechanism on the doors of an airplane? I would imagine there could be sever consequences of someone opening an emergency hatch at 10,000m

jefftk 3y ago
That such incidents don't happen more often in commercial aviation may give us some comfort, but in reality, there have been many attempts by passengers to open an emergency exit door in flight. (Fortunately, it's almost impossible at cruising altitudes).
- tjpnz 3y ago
  For added context those doors open inward and the pressure differential between the cabin and cruising altitude is such that you would literally have to be superman to do it. When it does happen it's always at relatively low altitudes.
dist-epoch 3y ago
No, there aren't. > Passenger arrested after plane door opened mid-flight explains he felt 'uncomfortable' https://news.sky.com/story/passenger-arrested-after-plane-door-opened-mid-flight-explains-he-felt-uncomfortable-12890574 https://news.sky.com/story/passenger-arrested-after-plane-do...
- gambiting 3y ago
  "He allegedly opened the door of the Asiana Airlines plane when it was 700 feet (213 metres) above the ground." That's a key point - at cruising altitude you'd need to push an equivalent of 2 tonnes of weight to open it - it's just not happening. Obviously even at 200 metres up in the air I bet it was incredibly scary.
tialaramex 3y ago
An airliner's external doors are designed such that they're held closed by internal pressure. Thus opening a door on the ground is pretty easy, which is convenient because that's the only place you should open them. But opening at cruise is extremely difficult. Now - a strong person can do it when the plane is far enough up that it's very scary, after all some normal passenger airports are a few thousand feet above sea level and we want the doors to work there. But you won't open them at cruise. All the normal doors on an aeroplane are fire doors so they can't be locked from the inside.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- schiffern 3y ago
  > after all some normal passenger airports are a few thousand feet above sea level and we want the doors to work there That doesn't make sense. Regardless of airport altitude, when the pilot shuts off the cabin pressurization and opens the cabin vent[s] there will be zero pressure across the door. The cabin doesn't "remember" the pressure at the last airport, because it's not a sealed volume. The air is constantly being replaced from outside, and the pressure is constantly being regulated.
  - tialaramex 3y ago
    That's fair, maybe I could have explained it better.
- jandrese 3y ago
  > Now - a strong person can do it when the plane is far enough up that it's very scary Is this true? Some back of the napkin math: An airliner crusing at 30,000 feet is in air at about 0.3 ATM. Cabins are pressurized to about 0.8 ATM, so net air perssure is about 0.5 ATM. That's around 7 lbs/in^2. An airliner door is about 72"x42" for a total of around 3,000 in^2. So you need to be able to lift about 10 tons to open it. That would be a very strong person indeed.
  - sebzim4500 3y ago
    You are agreeing with him, he says you can't do it at cruising altitude. He says you can do it high enough to be scary, but opening the door 100ft before landing would probably cause panic even if it isn't all that dangerous.
  - MBCook 3y ago
    It has happened at a few hundred feet, iirc. Nowhere near cruise but being at 3000 feet and having someone open the door would indeed be terrifying. I’m guessing something like that is what the GP meant.
TheHumanist 3y ago
Didn't that happen in a plane recently? There have been so many random issues in the air lately, especially with the Boeing planes... so I may be misremembering, but I thought some guy opened the emergency hatch and the plane was up there pretty high at the time. Paused my reply and took a moment to search. Looks like I was right and wrong. The plane wasn't very high in the air, only about 700 feet. A man did open the emergency hatch, though. [1] 1. [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/27/man-who-opened-flying-planes-door-was-in-hurry-to-get-off-media](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/27/man-who-opened-flying-planes-door-was-in-hurry-to-get-off-media) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/27/man-who-opened-flyi...
- schiffern 3y ago
  Working link: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/27/man-who-opened-flying-planes-door-was-in-hurry-to-get-off-media https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/27/man-who-opened-flyi...
MPSimmons 3y ago
Unlike the hatch on the space shuttle, airplane doors open in, and cabins are pressurized at ~10psi, so it's not likely that a person would succeed at doing it before getting tackled by crew and passengers.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
tgsovlerkhgsel 3y ago
Most planes have doors designed in a way that make it impossible to open them while there is significant overpressure in the cabin. Some do have interlocks. The main risk is the door or the passenger opening it hitting something critical. Otherwise, you can primarily expect some injuries from stuff flying around, barotrauma to the ear, and an emergency descent, but not an "everybody dies" scenario.

Is there any such lock mechanism on the doors of an airplane? I would imagine there could be sever consequences of someone opening an emergency hatch at 10,000m

jefftk 3y ago

That such incidents don't happen more often in commercial aviation may give us some comfort, but in reality, there have been many attempts by passengers to open an emergency exit door in flight. (Fortunately, it's almost impossible at cruising altitudes).

tjpnz 3y ago
For added context those doors open inward and the pressure differential between the cabin and cruising altitude is such that you would literally have to be superman to do it. When it does happen it's always at relatively low altitudes.

dist-epoch 3y ago

No, there aren't. > Passenger arrested after plane door opened mid-flight explains he felt 'uncomfortable' https://news.sky.com/story/passenger-arrested-after-plane-door-opened-mid-flight-explains-he-felt-uncomfortable-12890574 https://news.sky.com/story/passenger-arrested-after-plane-do...

gambiting 3y ago
"He allegedly opened the door of the Asiana Airlines plane when it was 700 feet (213 metres) above the ground." That's a key point - at cruising altitude you'd need to push an equivalent of 2 tonnes of weight to open it - it's just not happening. Obviously even at 200 metres up in the air I bet it was incredibly scary.

tialaramex 3y ago

An airliner's external doors are designed such that they're held closed by internal pressure. Thus opening a door on the ground is pretty easy, which is convenient because that's the only place you should open them. But opening at cruise is extremely difficult. Now - a strong person can do it when the plane is far enough up that it's very scary, after all some normal passenger airports are a few thousand feet above sea level and we want the doors to work there. But you won't open them at cruise. All the normal doors on an aeroplane are fire doors so they can't be locked from the inside.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
schiffern 3y ago
> after all some normal passenger airports are a few thousand feet above sea level and we want the doors to work there That doesn't make sense. Regardless of airport altitude, when the pilot shuts off the cabin pressurization and opens the cabin vent[s] there will be zero pressure across the door. The cabin doesn't "remember" the pressure at the last airport, because it's not a sealed volume. The air is constantly being replaced from outside, and the pressure is constantly being regulated.
- tialaramex 3y ago
  That's fair, maybe I could have explained it better.
jandrese 3y ago
> Now - a strong person can do it when the plane is far enough up that it's very scary Is this true? Some back of the napkin math: An airliner crusing at 30,000 feet is in air at about 0.3 ATM. Cabins are pressurized to about 0.8 ATM, so net air perssure is about 0.5 ATM. That's around 7 lbs/in^2. An airliner door is about 72"x42" for a total of around 3,000 in^2. So you need to be able to lift about 10 tons to open it. That would be a very strong person indeed.
- sebzim4500 3y ago
  You are agreeing with him, he says you can't do it at cruising altitude. He says you can do it high enough to be scary, but opening the door 100ft before landing would probably cause panic even if it isn't all that dangerous.
- MBCook 3y ago
  It has happened at a few hundred feet, iirc. Nowhere near cruise but being at 3000 feet and having someone open the door would indeed be terrifying. I’m guessing something like that is what the GP meant.

TheHumanist 3y ago

Didn't that happen in a plane recently? There have been so many random issues in the air lately, especially with the Boeing planes... so I may be misremembering, but I thought some guy opened the emergency hatch and the plane was up there pretty high at the time. Paused my reply and took a moment to search. Looks like I was right and wrong. The plane wasn't very high in the air, only about 700 feet. A man did open the emergency hatch, though. [1] 1. [https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/27/man-who-opened-flying-planes-door-was-in-hurry-to-get-off-media](https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/27/man-who-opened-flying-planes-door-was-in-hurry-to-get-off-media) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/27/man-who-opened-flyi...

schiffern 3y ago
Working link: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/27/man-who-opened-flying-planes-door-was-in-hurry-to-get-off-media https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/5/27/man-who-opened-flyi...

MPSimmons 3y ago

Unlike the hatch on the space shuttle, airplane doors open in, and cabins are pressurized at ~10psi, so it's not likely that a person would succeed at doing it before getting tackled by crew and passengers.

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

tgsovlerkhgsel 3y ago

Most planes have doors designed in a way that make it impossible to open them while there is significant overpressure in the cabin. Some do have interlocks. The main risk is the door or the passenger opening it hitting something critical. Otherwise, you can primarily expect some injuries from stuff flying around, barotrauma to the ear, and an emergency descent, but not an "everybody dies" scenario.