Re: Woman tries to open airplane door midflight

In article <42F41047.63B74D7D@xxxxxxx>, Fly Guy <Fly@xxxxxxx> wrote:

> I thought cabins were pressurized to 10,000 feet during cruise.

More typically around 8,000 but that's at it maximum cruise altitude.
A plane is certified for a maximum pressure differential, typically
around 8 psi on a jet airliner.

The goal of pressurization is to keep the cabin as close to normal
pressure as possible. Up at 35,000 feet, the cabin may indeed be
close to 8,000 feet, because that's as good as an 8psi differential
will allow. On a short flight done at 15,000 feet, the cabin will
remain close to sea level (or the destination airport elevation),
because that's well within the capability of that pressurization
system.

> Since this was landing phase, I'm not sure what the typical cabin
> pressure profile is duringing descent and landing. I know from
> experience (based on equalizing my ears) that there are more changes
> during descent. It could be that once below 10k that inside and
> outside air pressure are allowed to be equal all the way down to
> descent.

No, that's not how it's done, because the rapid descents in an
unpressurized cabin would be very painful for everyone on board. Once
the airplane starts its descent from cruise altitude, the pressure is
smoothly brought down from 8,000 feet (or wherever it topped out) to
near the landing field elevation, at a comfortable rate of just a few
hundred feet per minute.

> My main point is that regardless if the lady could have indeed opened
> the door at all (or more than just a crack), the important observation
> in this situation is the lack of action on the part of nearby
> passengers.

With the passengers in their seats with their belts on, the only person
in any danger was the woman tampering with the door. Even with the
door missing entirely, the plane would be able to fly and land without
difficulty.

> In spite of this, no-one on the plane
> (EVEN the FA!) takes any physical action to subdue or remove the lady
> from the door area.

Physical action was not necessary. She was not a significant threat to
the safety of the flight simply by her tampering with the door. The FA
used *words* to coax her away from the door, and was successful in
getting her back to her seat. She did her job well.

> I take this as an indication that 4 years after 9-11 there would be no
> passenger action against another set of would-be hijackers or
> terrorists.

Your equating a door handle to a hijacker's gun is a flawed premise.

I assure you, if the flight attendant needed passenger assistance, she
wouldn't have hesitated to ask for it. And she would have gotten it.

--
Garner R. Miller
Clifton Park, NY =USA=
.

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