Jet Door Opens in Flight, but Plane Lands Safely

[demmiblue]

The unexpected opening of an emergency exit door on an Asiana Airlines plane making its landing on Friday in Daegu, South Korea, left passengers shaken, and nine of them were hospitalized after they experienced difficulty breathing.

The police arrested a man in his 30s on suspicion of forcing open the door. The suspect, who could face charges of violating aviation security laws, did not reveal a motive, said Kim Hyeong-su, an officer in the criminal affairs division of the Daegu Dongbu Police Station.

The plane, which left Jeju Island at 11:58 a.m., was at an altitude of 700 feet and minutes from landing at 12:38 p.m., when a man seated in the emergency exit row next to the door forced it open, a spokesman for the airline said. According to FlightAware, the plane was traveling about 170 miles an hour at that point in the flight.

Normally when a plane is mid-flight, the difference in air pressure inside and outside the cabin prevents the doors from opening. But the plane was so close to the ground that the difference was negligible, allowing the door to be unlatched, said the airline spokesman, Baek Hyunwoo.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/26/world/asia/plane-door-open-asiana.html

Link to tweet

[boston bean]

1. He needed some fresh air, I suppose.

[demmiblue]

2. Another angle:

Link to tweet

[OAITW r.2.0]

4. Lucky a bird didn't get sucked in.

I really don't get how the door opens, given the pressure differential. The dude had to have had a lot of strength to move the door against the air flow.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

6. The plane was almost on the ground.

No pressure differential.

A lot of the news stories and the postings here are VERY misleading, making you think the plane was at cruising altitude. It wasn't. It was almost on the ground.

[OAITW r.2.0]

7. Still flying at 200+ miles per hour.

Pushing it open against the air flow is impressive.

[Maru Kitteh]

8. 172 mph. Not easy but a 30yo man in a psychotic break?

And here we are.


I would have thought an Airbus would need a little more than that but I'm reading 150-160mph is a typical approach/landing speed.


Yikes.

[chowder66]

3. I'm having bad thoughts about that person who opened the door.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

5. It was not mid flight. It was 700 feet off the ground,

on the final approach.

Although the passenger who fiddled with the door does need to face appropriate sanctions.

[jmowreader]

9. Sucks to be that guy

The Korean National Police are famous for their complet lack of a sense of humor.