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Man Sues United Airlines, Claiming Injuries Resulted from Open Aircraft Door {AOL Travel News}
Dec 2nd 2010 9:12PM I assume the individual is suing over a CABIN door, as a cockpit door would have no effect. I'm sure this was covered previously (I don't have time to go through all the previous posts), but 99% of all cabin doors on airliners are "plug" doors, that is, they are like corks and are bigger than the opening. They cannot open inflight. Superman could not open them. In addition to other safeguards, they are wedged in place by the differential air pressure of the pressurized cabin, 8 psi or more, 20,000+ pounds of pressure on a door. If you watch the boarding door opened, it is first pulled inside the plane, then once it is rotated slightly, it can swivel outside. Since it is slightly larger than the hole, it cannot swivel outside until it is canted. And those overwing window exits? Note that the instructions tell you to pull them into the plane, then run outside? Yup, they're bigger than the hole too. They can only fit through the hole if they're rotated.
So, the bottom line is, there was NO danger that a door would open inflight, it's impossible. I know of no instance that any cabin door of any make of modern commercial jet has ever opened inflight. (Cargo doors are different on many aircraft, too large to open inwards, so that is a different issue).
"Depressurization Danger?" Very unlikely. I've seen rubber seals around the edges of cabin doors squeal or hiss, and they are repaired by reseating them, cleaning, or replacement (perhaps a maintenance person can help me out here). Nuisance noise at most. But even if a cabin does depressurize, there's an oxygen mask for everyone, FREE! (Hmm, intersting thought, a credit card slot for the oxygen masks... could charge 500 bucks each for that! tic) It is rare but not uncommon to lose cabin presssure, and in the end it's no more than an exciting story to tell your friends.
"Extreme noise?" Oh, I guess it might be noisy with a leaking seal, if you're a sissy. 'Maybe we should chug on over to mamby-pamby land where maybe we could find some self confidence for you, ya jackwagon!'
Lawyers; can't live with them, can't deny them an oxygen mask.
Plane Answers: Can passengers survive an explosive depressurization? {Gadling}
Apr 13th 2010 12:49AM Temperature is not an issue. This freezing thing is urban legend. As other commentors have said, it's TUC (Time of Useful Consciousness). You'll be unconscious without Oxygen very soon. So put the O2 mask on when it drops. The pilots will be diving for 10,000 ft. If you pass out due to lack of O2, you'll likely wake up again later. Just a little free sleep, that's all. It's like a few free beers. The O2 generators for the passenger masks last about 10 minutes, and are only there to get you down to a safe altitude. The chemical O2 generators are about the size of a tennis ball and make a touch of smoke when they operate. (Don't worry, the pilots have a "REAL" O2 bottle that will last for hours, it's the size of a golf bag).
When that Hawaiin 737 skin peeled off and flew with passengers directly exposed to 400 mph sub-freezing air...no one froze. I challenge anyone to find a credible instance of a passenger freezing to death in the last 50 years. It's myth. Oxygen is important, you can do something about that by grabbing the mask and using it. Temperature is not important. You can't do anything about it anyway.
If you are thrown into -60 C atmosphere at 40,000 ft, you've already been dead for a moment or two from the explosion. Minute fragments of your body might freeze in the fall to earth, but don't worry about it. It won't be painful by that point, and your freeze-dried morsels will be recycled in the ocean environment. Al Gore would be proud of you.
Now, as for cabin temp controls, FA's in their 50's often ask for cooler temperatures than younger FAs. Could it be menopause? Just Sayin...I think most female FAs would agree with that statement...I know my wife would.
The best airline safety announcement videos {Gadling}
Apr 10th 2010 2:57AM I think the sex change happened because of Delta's merger with NWA. It was in the pilot union agreement...
The best airline safety announcement videos {Gadling}
Apr 10th 2010 2:24AM Mathew, Yes SWA does have an excellent saftey record. But there's some luck too. That Burbank incident had the aircraft come to rest in an Exxon gas station. No one was hurt. Lucky with a capital L. And in the Midway incident you refer to, the NTSB ruled that SWA and the pilots were primarily to blame; them being "told to land" there was not in the report and not an excuse for a crash (any airline and any Captain can decide NOT to land someplace any time they want). SWA has also been cited repeatedly (and nearly all other airlines too) by the FAA for maintenance-related safety violations. Again, SWA has an excellent safety record, and they're a great airline. But you're lettng your happy years with them cloud your judgement. They're good, not perfect. "Get over it." Now back to the videos...
The five worst US airlines {Gadling}
Jan 20th 2008 10:35PM Author Guo obviously never took a statistics course, but neither has anyone else in journalism school. First, why were ALL the BIGGEST US airlines listed (oh, except Southwest, I'll give them that?) Because they're the biggest and they fly the most people! Of course they have the most complaints!
And all the complaints are LESS than 100 per month (except USAir, 101.) Each of these airlines flies 1000's of flights per day (my airline flies 1500 flights per day, and carries 118 million passengers per year). So there are
