Pilot reveals what would really happen if the emergency exit door gets opened mid-flight

Daily Mail​

5 hours ago

While the scenario of an emergency exit door being yanked open mid-flight is a major fear for nervous flyers, one pilot has revealed exactly what happens when it occurs.
Emergency exits are strategically placed throughout the aircraft to enable quick and efficient evacuation for all passengers, regardless of their seating location.
While it's rare, there have been instances in recent years of passengers - or even flight attendants - opening emergency doors on airplanes on the ground or in mid-air.
But American Airlines First Officer, Steve Scheibner, long-haul pilot, Pascal Cooney, and former airline pilot and aviation expert, Dan Bubb, have revealed the truth about what happens once the 'forbidden' door handle is turned at 35,000 feet.
According to Bubb, when an emergency exit door is opened while the plane is stationed on the group and unpressurised, it will result in the door opening and an inflatable slide deploying.
This is what happened in the infamous JetBlue Steven Slater incident in 2010, where the flight attendant quit his job in style and used the emergency exit to activate the slide and depart the plane following a confrontation with a passenger.
Plug-type emergency exits on aircraft are designed to fit snugly into the door frame, creating a seal that is strengthened by the pressure difference between the interior and exterior of the aircraft.
These doors are equipped with hardware like vertical rod and rim exit devices to ensure they stay securely closed under pressure.
But if the plane is on the ground and accelerates up to a speed of 80 knots - equivalent to roughly 92 miles per hour - a mechanism on the doors locks, meaning they cannot be opened.
Once the plane is in the air, it's virtually impossible to open an emergency door mid-flight due to the cabin's pressurisation.
The pressure inside the cabin is significantly higher than the pressure outside at cruising altitude, creating a force that keeps the doors securely sealed.
This pressure differential makes it physically impossible for a human to overcome the force holding the door closed.
As reported by Reader's Digest, Steve Scheibner explained, 'Once this door gets pressurised in flight, it's nine pounds per square inch.'
Fellow long-haul pilot, Pascal Cooney, who goes by @pascalklr on YouTube, said in a clip: 'We pressurise our aircraft to a lower altitude so that you guys can breathe. The inside pressure pushes the door in its frame.'
While it's physically near-impossible to open emergency doors in the air, there have been documented cases of passengers hijacking planes and even jumping out of exits mid-flight.
In 1972, a man named D.B. Cooper hijacked Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305, demanding four parachutes and $200,000 (£146,070) in ransom.
After the plane landed in Seattle, he released the passengers and crew, refueled, and then, while flying towards Mexico, he parachuted out of the plane with the ransom money. Cooper was never found nor seen of again.
Many passengers have also attempted to open doors mid-flight and whilst on the runway.
A manic passenger was wrestled into a seat after trying to open the emergency exit mid-flight and threatening to kill all onboard a All Nippon Airways plane in May.
In April, a flight headed to Melbourne was forced to turn around after a woman tried to open the aircraft door at 30,000 ft as the plane flew over the Indian Ocean.
Budget airline JetStar said in a statement that flight JQ-34 had to return to Denpasar airport in Bali after a 'disruptive passenger' attempted to force the plane door open mid-air.
In most cases, opening an emergency door mid-flight would lead to arrest, with specific charges and potential prison sentences depending on various factors, such as whether anyone was harmed or damage had been caused to the aircraft.
Steven Slater, for example, escaped a prison sentence of seven years after being charged with a string of offences - including reckless endangerment and criminal mischief.
However, the former JetBlue flight attendant was made to pay his old airline employer $10,000 (£7,303) in restitution to make up for some of the cost of his spectacular exit.
In April, AirAsia X passenger, Shadi Taiseer Alsaaydeh, was charged with two counts of endangering the safety of an aircraft, as well as one count of assaulting crew members, when he attempted to open the plane's emergency doors several times.
Each charge carries a maximum sentence of 10 years behind bars.
He was restrained by crew members and passengers with one worker allegedly assaulted in the process.