Why you can’t open airplane doors

Have you ever been on a plane and just needed to get out? Maybe you needed some air or maybe you required more space. If the thought of simply opening the passenger door has crossed your mind, you better drop your hand from the doorknob before you do something dangerous.

At the extremely high altitudes and speeds that planes travel, opening a door would cause disastrous results such as rapid decompression, which would depressurize the plane cabin in seconds. This would result in a strong suction pull from the outside.

This means that all loose objects and anyone who is not wearing a seatbelt would be sucked out of the plane. But it would not be just the lives of the passengers not wearing seatbelts that would be in danger.

The plane would begin to deteriorate due to the pressure difference, putting the lives of the remaining passengers in peril. Cabin temperature would quickly decrease to frostbite-inducing levels, and less oxygen would be available to breathe as the air is thinner at high altitudes. Hypoxia would quickly kick in, leading often to death.

Thankfully, even if a passenger were to be unhinged enough to want to open the airplane door, it would be nearly impossible to do so.

Why is this so, and what other safety measures are put into place to ensure plane doors never open? We answer all these questions and more and even bring you the story of a woman who did once try to open a plane door.

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