Is it possible to open airplane door in flight

The flight crew would most likely descend quickly and be able to make an emergency landing. As we can see, it is actually possible to open an aircraft door during flight. Nonetheless, it is very unlikely to happen and indeed impossible at high altitudes. Andrea Massey Journalist Simple Flying.

Based in California. More great Simple Flying content:. The resultant loss of pressurization was easily addressed and ultimately harmless, but the sudden noise — a great, hundred-decibel sucking sound together with the throb of two 1, horsepower engines only a few feet away — would startle the hell out of everybody on the plane, including me. On the ground the situation changes — as one would hope, with the possibility of an evacuation in mind.

During taxi, you will get the door to open. Blog Archives Follow Us! The ejection seat is a capable system. I had the unfortunate displeasure of using one myself back in the s.

But there's no guarantee it will work. You have perhaps a 40 percent chance of not surviving. If you pull that handle, you are literally betting your life, that you're afraid of imminent death if you don't pull that handle.

So there's a lot of risk involved, I assume from the depressurization, as well as the speed the plane is moving at. Fighters are not as pressurized as much as commercial airliners. That's why [the pilots are] wearing a mask and breathing an oxygen dilution all the time.

So the depressurization is not as great, though it's definitely there. Yes, the speed and the mach number. Above knots, you'll probably have some bruising and broken bones.

Above knots, you're either going to be killed or going to have both your shoulders broken. You can have real serious injuries depending on the speed. All rights reserved. Is it possible for a passenger to open the door of a commercial jet while it is in flight? Haven't passengers managed to jump from an airliner? Was that D. How about planes used for parachuting. How do the jumpers get out? Have there been other accidents caused by decompression?

It could cause something called "explosive decompression. During an Aloha Airlines flight in , a piece of the fuselage tore loose at 24, feet, leaving "blue sky where the first-class ceiling had been," according to the captain. The chief flight attendant was instantly sucked out of the plane through that gaping hole.

Explosive decompression happens infrequently, but it does happen. A rip in the plane wall, a window cracks, it doesn't matter the cause. The huge pressure difference creates a vacuum capable of shooting anything up to 1, pounds out into the sky.

And that vacuum effect would last until the pressure inside the cabin matched the pressure outside. So Shatner made a good call buckling himself in before opening that emergency exit.

If you don't live in the Twilight Zone, your chances of pulling open an airplane door mid-flight are just as good as seeing a gremlin on the wing. So the next time you start getting nervous about it, just remind yourself:. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Get the Insider App.