What if scenario: Airline door opening
This post was published 3 years 2 months 8 days ago and its content may not be valid anymore.What would be your reaction had someone attempted to open an airline door mid-flight? I know exactly how I’d react – the question is how one would actually act had the scenario presented itself.
A man wearing military fatigues and throwing punches into the air tried to open the exit door of a jet during a cross-country flight on Tuesday night, airline officials and passengers said.
United Airlines Flight 890 from Los Angeles landed as scheduled at Washington Dulles International Airport at 8:35 p.m., said Amy Kudwa, a Transportation Security Administration spokeswoman. No one was injured.
Ken Wolfenberger, of Whittier, California, who was on the flight, told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he helped subdue the unruly passenger. The man wore patches on his fatigues with special forces and jujitsu champion logos, Wolfenberger said.
The man had been acting strangely for about 20 minutes, then sat up, wrapped belts around his hands and threw punches into the air, Wolfenberger said.
So have at it. Would you put your head between your legs and pray? Or, would you stand up, bum rush the guy with a few fellow passengers, and knock some sense into the loon?
After 9/11, I’d think almost anyone would just pulverize this guy to little pieces.
Kick ‘im when he’s down grandma!
Head between legs and die.
vs
Take the guy down and increase chances of living.
Fight or… flight?
(I didn’t actually realise there was a sort of double pun in that until after I wrote it.)
I thought the pressure difference made it impossible to open the door while in flight?
No,
It planes they PRESSURIZE the cabins to make it the same inside as it is on the outside… so if a door were to be opened or window burst, everything would be sucked out of the plane…. well not really, but it happened that way on SNAKES ON A PLANE!!!! So it must be true, Right?!?!? ;-P
I have to admit, I would probably rush the guy, I’ve taken a few punches to the face before without my life being in danger… so I’m sure doing it again with much great steaks on the line would make it a very easy choice for myself.
No nail clippers but military fatigues are ok? That should be the first hint right? @haha… Is Snakes on a Plane on Video yet?
heh i live rigt by Whittier, California
well i dont know, i would just stare frozen at what happen. i cant make decisions that quick, lol.
everyone is an air marshal if they’ve got a ballpoint pen and a willingness to shove it into soft spots.
Actually they pressurize the cabin to make it the same on the inside as it is at SEA LEVEL (or departure altitude?), not the same as it is outside. They do this not so that you can’t open the doors, but so that your body can absorb oxygen from the air, basically the same reason high mountain climbers use oxygen bottles. The reason why its not possible to open the door midflight is because of the pressure difference, but not how you think — its because the door must be pulled inward to open, and the higher pressure in the cabin is extremely hard to overcome. If the door were to open, everything not nailed down would be sucked out the opening just like in snakes on a plane until the pressure equalized, at which point everyone would die of hypoxia after a few minutes unless the cabin were somehow repressurized.
In contrast, in planes people jump out of, which fly way lower, they do not pressurize the cabin, since they need to open the door to get out, which they can easily do since the cabin pressure equals the outside pressure.