First, Kudos to Hawaiian Airlines and those who assisted them yesterday during this nightmare-inducing event. It occurred when a crazed passenger repeatedly tried to open the aircraft exit door mid-flight between Los Angeles and Honolulu. Luckily, the door remained sealed. Oh hells bells, as if we haven’t had enough travel trouble yet.
The passenger was taken into federal custody after the flight crew and an off-duty police officer were able to subdue the man.
The incident took place on a nearly full flight, with 205 passengers and crew on board the Airbus A330-200. The plane departed Los Angeles at 10:04 am and landed safely in Honolulu at 12:58 pm.
Why airliner doors can’t be opened in-flight.
Luckily for all aboard, aircraft cabin doors are designed so that they cannot be opened in flight. Lest we forget, for those of you old enough, the infamous D.B. Cooper jump back in 1971. Bring back any memories?
This isn’t, however, even close to the first time a passenger has attempted to exit an airliner midair. The list of incidents is actually quite long. While the idea of being sucked out of an open aircraft door midair is sure to arouse chills in the best of us, luckily the risk of the door actually being opened is virtually non-existent.
First, aircraft doors are mechanically locked and controlled by the flight crew. The door is secured prior to take off. Do you recall after the plane has landed and is approaching the gate, the pilot will say “doors to manual.” A passenger could open a door only after that occurs.
In addition to the locks, the cabin pressure also seals them closed. Doors cannot open because the inside cabin air pressure is much greater than the outside air pressure. Thus, the doors are sealed against the aircraft frame.
An investigation of the incident is underway and it is not clear yet what charges may be brought.
Photo of Hawaiian Airlines’ Boeing 787 Dreamliner. The company is now rescheduling its first deliveries of the new fleet for 2022.
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So are straight jackets kept in the overhead bins these days ? Doubtful flight crew could/would administer knock out drops ! Any clue how the agitated person was actually subdued ? Thank goodness there was someone on-board to help.
Hi Marsha.
Always good to hear from you. We did not hear about how the passenger was subdued but it seems that tape is used most of the time as far as we are hearing.
Aloha.
Aloha Beat Of Hawaii!
As this just happened, I don’t think you would have reported on it yet. A mainland visitor to Kauai with a negative Covid-19 test, took the 2nd test 3 days later and ended up positive for Covid-19.I watched Mayor Kawakami’s Kauai.gov video 10/30/2020 where he reports on this, as well as a physician. The Doctor states that it can take up to 14 days after being exposed to Covid-19 for the virus to test positive in a Covid test, & she recommends getting that 2nd test to be sure you’re virus free while in Hawaii. The Mayor said the problem with that is many visitors are not here that long. Sadly, only days after our 1st group of visitors allowed in with a pre-travel test, Kauai island is experiencing the highest numbers since the Pandemic began!! I wrote the Mayor asking his opinion of mandatory testing 3 days after arrival. I dont know how they could enforce this, or if its even possible, but imagine now the contact tracing they are going to have to be doing if he is your typical visitor; they hit Costco, stocking up, hit Walmart, several bars & restaurants, several beaches and places of interest, as well as the people on the plane with him. What a nightmare for him and the residents/essential workers that may have been in contact with him. What does Beat of Hawaii think of double testing?
Mahalo nui loa!
Hi Erin.
Thanks for asking. It is critical to both keep tourism open and things as safe as possible with our limited medical infrastructure. To the degree that helps, then it would seem beneficial. Given some time, and more available tests, that should help here.
Aloha.
Thank you so.much for Beat of Hawaii. I am a frequent traveler to the Big Island and love it there. I read your publication everyday to keep up on the news. I have a trip planned for the last week of November and wonder if readers can tell me how conditions are in Kona? Is it worth going? Thanks!
Hi Linda.
Thanks. I hope others will give you a hand with some specifics on Kona.
Aloha.
good old yanks
There is a real possibility that this person became agitated because they were having a panic attack. Many people suffer mental heath issues. To label him “crazy” and condemn his actions without knowing his story is just bad reporting.
Really, bad reporting? Grow up it was a crazy person. I get severe panic attacks but I don’t think about opening a freaking door midflight
He was subdued by an off-duty police officer. Weren’t they trying to defund those guys?
The off duty officer happens to be a friend of mine who was flying over to his vacation home.
Thank him for me. it was a heroic action. I’m a huge supporter of our police and believe they get a bad rap.
Wow, tried to open the door?!!!
That’s nuts. I honestly thought this was going to talk about a crazed passenger feeling the need to remove his mask on the plane for a few minutes. I recently flew on Delta and fell asleep in my seat. Evidently my masked hed slipped off my nose while asleep. Two extremely panicky crew members were able to shake me awake and reposition my mask. Their quick and heroic actions saved 147 passengers from catching Covid-19 and dying a horrible death.
Hi Steve.
Thanks for the levity and all of your comments.
Aloha.
I’m more concerned with the number of people in the plane. Almost full capacity! No social distancing???!!!
On airbus planes, the door nestles behind an array of cleats and a set of L shaped guide tracks and has to move up some distance, to clear the cleats and exit the L track. When it’s dropped into the locked position, it’s not dependent on any moving parts to resist pressure because it settles behind the fixed cleats in the outer frame. The cleats in the door bear on the ones in the frame to resist outward pressure and the door is opened by lifting it to mis-align the cleats so the door cleats clear the frame cleats. That makes it a plug door although a different design than the typical Boeing door.
Turns out he just wanted to get William Shatner off the wing. #gowherenomanhasgonebefore
Actually, the doors on Airbus equipment are not plug doors, so the cabin pressure would assist one in opening the door mid-flight. There are mechanical locks.
There was a case with a flight attendant being injured when opening a door, as the aircraft hadn’t been depressurized yet. That is why Airbus now have warning lights on the doors indicating whether the cabin is still pressurized.
Thanks for the article. To clarify, “Disarm doors” means to disarm the automatic feature of the evacuation slides, not to move the locking mechanism to “manual.” Wouldn’t want one to deploy into a jetway on arrival, that might not go so well for the gate agent. I don’t think the cockpit can control the exit doors; besides, there’s no need to. As you mentioned, they are physically held in place by the pressure differential and are impossible to open above a certain altitude.
Hi Scott.
Thanks for clarifying that.
Aloha.
It always amazes me when someone thinks they can open an exit at altitude. Without boring you with a bunch of physics and math, the pressure on an exit door at altitude is roughly 1120 LB / sq ft. Assuming an emergency exit door is roughly 10 sq ft, it would require a force of 11,200 lbs to open the door. Aircraft boarding doors have a much larger surface area and would require even greater force to operate.
It’s almost as if the aeronautical engineers did this on purpose……..
DB Cooper out the back end of a Boeing 727! Flight Attendants, disarm doors and cross-check…
Maybe they need to test for more than Covid before they let you on the plane
Hi Guys!
This kind of sums up 2020, in a nutshell, eh?
Cah..Razy! 😳🤦
Hi Jim.
True that. Funny comments too.
Aloha.
How do I get dropped from this thread. Had enough of the crazy free fall jumper comments(although some of them were pretty good)
Was this person wearing a mask, though?
shout out to DB Cooper.
what a mysterious man that actually got away with his plan and was never seen again.
Kind of reminds me of the Twilight Zone episode with William Shatner.
Certainly an unwelcome breath of fresh air (and in the wrong direction!)!!!!!
Didn’t like the. Chicken, huh?
Wow, I would have gladly went to Hawaii in their place if they really didn’t wanna go!
Thanks for sharing and definitely good to know that the doors are always safe and sound. Still so scary for all involved
Thanks again
Hi Tonya.
Thanks. A lot of interesting comments and some funny ones.
Aloha.