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

[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.