The word of the day is "TACKLE"

[volksdragon]

SEATTLE, Washington (AP) -- A woman was arrested Wednesday for attempting to open an airplane exit door while the plane was still in the air, police said.

The 52-year-old woman from Dania Beach, Florida, left her seat and tried to open the door as the United Airlines flight was descending into Seattle to land, police said. The plane was at an altitude of about 4,000 feet at the time.

She failed but "did manage to turn the handle far enough that a warning light went on in the cockpit," Seattle-Tacoma International Airport spokesman Bob Parker told KING-TV.

A flight attendant persuaded the woman to sit back down, but nobody physically restrained her. Parker said the other passengers stayed belted in their seats in case she did manage to open the door.

The woman was arrested for investigation of malicious mischief when the plane landed. Police were investigating whether alcohol and prescription medication were involved.


Sorry, I see anyone trying to pry a door open in mid-flight, and I'm leaping on them. Anyone? Bueller?

Comments

[string-on-desk.livejournal.com]

It's only 9:38 and I've already heard so many fucktarded, mind-twitching things today that I think I am going to spasm into a puddle.

Thanks for the article though.. it does make you wonder. And how to people not notice someone is trying to open a door until the warning light goes off in the cockpit?

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

Oh, they noticed. The flight attendants "talked her down." The passengers noticed, and reacted by tightening their safety belts. It's a valid reaction, I guess, but I'd rather not risk sudden depressurization. If I can get to her in three seconds or less, and I probably can, she gets a BIG HUG.

[string-on-desk.livejournal.com]

I suppose my problem is that they noticed but were reactive instead of proactive. Like you said, I'd rather not risk the depressurization. Why prepare for the worst when you can try to prevent it?

hehehe, though I'd really like to see you get to her in 3 seconds or less and give her that BIG HUG ;) I'd probably pay to see it.

[marmota.livejournal.com]

My impression from reading stories of previous similar incidents is that jetliner doors require cockpit release, so it's more than just turning the handle to open. Maybe it's different for emergency exits than the regular ones.

Anyway, my two cents is that at cruising altitude I'd go for a tackle too because seats, let alone seatbelts could come loose from that kind of depressurization, and also on ascent because messing with the slipstream under full thrust and high angle-up is a Bad Thing, but on descent I'd just stay belted in and treat it as a self-correcting problem.

[skreeky]

Too bad the cops couldn't just shoot her in the head. Add that to the policy, Jeeves.

[cfred.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but what if they shoot her through-and-through and it goes through the skin of the aircraft?

(Probably too slow a leak to be an issue, but still....)

[volare.livejournal.com]

nope. she's getting a Colossus-and-Wolverine style 'fastball special' takedown. Learned those from working with cops..

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

Does the door open outward? I would have thought it would open inward, and thus be held in place by several PSI of pressure (or several tons of force over the whole door) when the plane is at altitude.

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

Outwards. Unlock, Twist Handle, grab latches top and middle of door, pull in, lift, and then p;ush door out.

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

Ah. What's their excuse?

re: excuse

[etherial.livejournal.com]

Emergencies. The last thing you want in an emergency is a door that stays shut when you try to open it.

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

The only airliner emergency that comes to mind where a door that opens outward would be useful is if you are above the altitude to which the cabin is pressurized and for some reason can't reduce the cabin pressure. The corresponding emergency in the other direction, where plane is sinking in water and you can't open the doors because they're held shut by water pressure, seems more likely. But I would expect accidental opening to be more likely than both.

[scirocco.livejournal.com]

They're called plug doors. They're physically the same size or larger than the aperture, so they can't be SUCKED OPEN directly from a pressure differential between outside and inside. They first pull in, and then rotate slightly to fit through the "Door-sized" space

[en-ki.livejournal.com]

Oo, cool.

ha

[etherial.livejournal.com]

You'd probably get the fucking medal of honour for that. Anybody who just tackled her would probably just get a lawsuit.

[jaiwyn.livejournal.com]

Uh, HELL YAH.. I don't want to go flying out of an open door or land a crashed plane. YEESH. Tackle and then punch the heck out of her.. Okay, a little overboard, but I'll claim mental disturbance.. I am, after all, mentally disturbed! And dreadfully afraid of heights.