Delta: Passenger subdued

[derg]

Good luck on getting it open, but...

Delta: Passenger subdued after trying to open emergency door
By the CNN Wire Staff

May 11, 2011 1:56 a.m. EDT

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Authorities say one person in custody faces a charge of interfering with a flight crew
An off-duty cop helped the crew restrain the passenger; no one was injured, Delta says
Spokeswoman: Pressurization prevents opening emergency doors in flight

The incident comes on heels of three security incidents aboard U.S. flights on Sunday

(CNN) -- A passenger became disruptive and attempted to open an emergency door on a Delta Air Lines flight bound from Orlando to Boston on Tuesday night but was subdued by passengers, a spokeswoman for the airline said.
No one was injured in the incident aboard Delta Flight 1102, spokeswoman Susan Elliott said. She said the passenger would not have been able to open the door in flight because of pressurization.

The flight landed safely Boston Logan International Airport late Tuesday night.

Massachusetts State Police said they had one person in custody on suspicion of interfering with a flight crew. More charges could follow, the agency said in a statement, and troopers were interviewing witnesses Tuesday night.

An off-duty police officer on board assisted the crew in subduing the passenger, and they managed to get the situation "under control fairly quickly," Elliott said. The officer then sat with the passenger for the remainder of the flight.

Several passengers told CNN affiliates they had no idea someone was trying to open an emergency door mid-flight.
"I knew that someone moved behind us, and that was about it," Suzanne Thibault told WCVB.

Another passenger praised the captain of the flight for how he handled the situation.

"He was just so calm," she said. "He said, 'Don't worry about anything. The police are going to come on and take care of an individual that we have on the back of the plane.' ... Nobody really panicked or anything."

A third passenger said about eight troopers got on board the plane.

The incident marked the fourth in-flight security situation aboard a U.S. domestic flight in less than three days, and the third in which an unruly passenger who appeared to be attempting to open secure doors aboard a plane had to be subdued.

A passenger aboard an American Airlines flight bound from Chicago to San Francisco on Sunday night was restrained by passengers and crew while attempting to force his way through the cockpit doors shortly before the plane landed. Earlier Sunday, a passenger aboard a Continental flight bound for Chicago from Houston had to make an unscheduled stop in St.
Louis because a passenger got out of his seat, rushed to the front of the airplane and attempted to open a flight door.

Also on Sunday, a Delta flight bound from Detroit to San Diego was diverted to Albuquerque, New Mexico, after a flight attendant found a suspicious note in a lavatory, a Transportation Safety Administration official told CNN.

 

[1B9Pilot]

Honestly are these people just looking for attention?

 

[MQAAord]

SRSLY, again? Chuck Norris himself couldn't open a door of a pressurized airliner inflight. Knock yourself out trying though...

 

[highspeed]

SRSLY, again? Chuck Norris himself couldn't open a door of a pressurized airliner inflight. Knock yourself out trying though...

Some doors do open outward (A340s), tho maybe something keeps them from opening pressurized. Or maybe not, 1 of the checks when opening from the outside was to ensure the pressurization light was off lest it come flying out at you.

 

[derg]

Even with the doors that open outward, if there's any sort of a pressure differential inside versus out, the delatch mechanism is going to be a massive effort/virtual impossibility to physically actuate. I can't remember what it's called, I think even the 1900 is set up like that as well.

 

[highspeed]

Even with the doors that open outward, if there's any sort of a pressure differential inside versus out, the delatch mechanism is going to be a massive effort/virtual impossibility to physically actuate. I can't remember what it's called, I think even the 1900 is set up like that as well.

Too bad I trashed my papers on the doors. I'll have to make a call later and ask a pal if they have theirs.

 

[tomokc]

You CAN open the doors on small GA aircraft. Expect that information to somehow reach the feds, who will correspondingly enact new laws to "keep us safe." Something along the line of one magnetometer per aircraft.

 

[kiloalpha]

Even with the doors that open outward, if there's any sort of a pressure differential inside versus out, the delatch mechanism is going to be a massive effort/virtual impossibility to physically actuate. I can't remember what it's called, I think even the 1900 is set up like that as well.

My FlightSafety book on the Metro (can't be that far off from the 1900):

When the handle is closed and the airplane is pressurized, a differential pressure diaphragm inside the door locks the handle so that the door cannot be opened while the airplane remains pressurized.

 

[derg]

Differential pressure diaphragm! That's the term I was looking for, thanks!

I've heard it described in one of the planes that I've flown is that the pressure required to overpower the DPD is more than the amount of force required to break the handle. So even if you had super human strength, the handle will go before the door.

 

[PeanuckleCRJ]

Differential pressure diaphragm! That's the term I was looking for, thanks!

I've heard it described in one of the planes that I've flown is that the pressure required to overpower the DPD is more than the amount of force required to break the handle. So even if you had super human strength, the handle will go before the door.

Well, this guy is one step above fNW FA's in that he actually touches the door.

Instead of subduing the guy, I'd love to see an FA just stand there and go "good luck trying, buddy."

 

[derg]

Instead of subduing the guy, I'd love to see an FA just stand there and go "good luck trying, buddy."

Voila!

SRSLY, again? Chuck Norris himself couldn't open a door of a pressurized airliner inflight. Knock yourself out trying though...

 

[Cptnchia]

Instead of subduing the guy, I'd love to see an FA just stand there and go "good luck trying, buddy."

Unfortunately, most FAs don't understand that the door can't be opened while pressurized.

 

[RDoug]

I remembered one of these incidents, so I looked it up. At least two flight attendants have been killed opening the emergency doors on pressurized A300 aircraft:

3-3464. OVERPRESSURIZED AIRPLANES.

A. Accidents Related to Overpressurized Airplanes.

1) On November 20, 2000, a flight attendant/purser was killed during an emergency evacuation of an Airbus Industrie A300B4-605R (A300). The airplane was pressurized until the flight attendant/purser opened the left front (1L) emergency exit door. He was then forcibly ejected from the airplane. There were 133 people on board. During the emergency evacuation:

· The flight attendant/purser who opened the emergency exit was killed.
· Three passengers sustained serious injuries.
· Eighteen passengers and one flight service director sustained minor injuries.
NOTE: The airplane sustained minor damage.
2) (The NTSB investigation resulted in recommendations to the FAA. They included recommendation A‑02‑22: Review all air carriers’ flight and cabin crew training manuals and programs and require revisions, if necessary, to ensure that they contain information about the signs of an overpressurized airplane on the ground and the dangers of opening emergency exit doors while the airplane is overpressurized . They also included recommendation A‑02‑23: Require that cabin crew training manuals and programs contain procedures to follow during an emergency evacuation when the airplane is overpressurized . The report is available on-line at: www.ntsb.gov/Recs/letters/letters.htm.

3) A similar accident occurred on October 20, 2001. In that accident, one flight attendant was killed and another flight attendant was seriously injured during the deplaning of an Airbus A300-605R. There were 2 flight crewmembers, 10 cabin crewmembers, and 134 passengers on board.

 

[Maurus]

A300s are old. Perhaps the pressurized door locking ability has been added since the A300s were created?

 

[RDoug]

A300s are old. Perhaps the pressurized door locking ability has been added since the A300s were created?

I don't know. I just thought it was weird at the time because I was always under the impression that airliner passenger doors were of the plug type—held in place by the cabin air pressure and impossible to open until the pressure is equalized.

 

[TUCKnTRUCK]

Instead of subduing the guy, I'd love to see an FA just stand there and go "good luck trying, buddy."

Voila!

SRSLY, again? Chuck Norris himself couldn't open a door of a pressurized airliner inflight. Knock yourself out trying though...

Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

When I was on the 1900, they told us it was a mini chuck norris in the door that would issue a beat down if you tried to open it in flight... no diaphams needed

 

[upup89]

I like that part that many of the passengers didnt know it was happening. Chuck Norris keeps things quiet.

 

[Chief Captain]

Some doors do open outward (A340s), tho maybe something keeps them from opening pressurized.

If my understanding is right, you have to pull it in before you push it out.

 

[Chief Captain]

I'd love to see an FA just stand there and go "good luck trying, buddy."

That's what I'd do. Somebody showed me the math and you'd have to exert several tons of force to open the door. I'd keep sipping my coffee and tell him that he'd have to pay for the handle if he broke it.

 

[highspeed]

When the handle is closed and the airplane is pressurized, a differential pressure diaphragm inside the door locks the handle so that the door cannot be opened while the airplane remains pressurized.

So that's a single point failure then right? Not sure I'd want to rely on that were anywhere close to a door some idiot wanted to open in flight.

If my understanding is right, you have to pull it in before you push it out.

Door didn't have any inward movement. Handle flipped up and the door opened out and slid to the side. The A340 doors were much easier to open than the 744s, which required looking under the door after it was cracked to ensure the slide wasn't engaged when you clearly did not want it to be.
In either case, from the inside you have to know to let go of the handle or it'll pull you out when the squibs fire and the door/slide does what it's supposed to.
[yt]PL72427ABC99F30F1E[/yt]
This guy has the procedure wrong but still shows the door opening.