What will stop a pasenger from opening an airplane door while in flight? Can it be locked?

Answer 1

The doors can't be opened due to the air pressure differential, and there is no "red button" that makes it possible.

DB Cooper was able to get out of the plane because the plane was traveling under 10,000 feet, and therefore the pressure difference was much less. They've since redesigned the doors to be unopenable in flight no matter what the pressure is.

Answer 2

A plug type door cannot be opened when the aircraft is pressurized because of differential air pressure between the inside and outside of the aircraft, but not all doors on pressurized aircraft are plug type. The main access doors on many turboprop and smaller jet aircraft are conventional swing out type that are secured closed by a variety of means such as special pins that extend out from the door frame into sockets in the fuselage frame. (ATR calls them 'Shoot Bolts') In these types of doors the mechanism that prevents inadvertent or inappropriate operation of the door is called an interlock system and is activated by a device called a barometric sensor. (This can be as simple as a vent panel) When the baro sensor detects a higher pressure inside the cabin it will move to lock the mechanism and prevent the door handle from operating. It is theoretically possible that in the event of total pressurization loss the lock would release and allow the door to be opened in flight. Forces caused by the slipstream of the plane flying through the air can be fairly light under some circumstances and may not be enough to prevent the door from being opened in that situation. Also there is usually a monitoring sytem that will alert the pilots if a door is not properly locked.
Can it be locked by other means? Yes. Many aircraft including smaller passenger jets can have the main and baggage doors locked from the outside with a key lock similar to a car door. (And for the same reason: To keep people out when the plane is not being used) Emergency exits on some planes can also be locked from the inside with a metal pin but these are removed prior to flight. The B727 type used by "D Cooper" in his highjacking later had the rear airstair door modified with a lock that actuated by the slipstream of the aircraft in flight. A simple and effective vane with a hook that engages a pin on the door attached to the outside of the plane and known as a "Cooper latch" or "Cooper lock".

Answer 3

The doors in airplanes do not open like your regular door in your bedroom. Most people wouldn't even know where to being when they approach the door. If there was a passenger who was familiar with the working of an aircraft door they would need Superman powers to open the door mid flight. They would need to push through the hundreds of miles per hour wind/air that is rushing past. Highly, highly unlikely that the passenger sitting in 32A would be able to open the main cabin door of an airplane in flight. That is also what the flight attendants are for, they are to supervise the inside of the aircraft and wouldn't allow anyone near the door. There is also a warning light in the cockpit for the pilots and they would be able to tell when the door is being opened.

Answer 4

When a passenger tried to open the door of a United Airlines flight in August 2005, USA Today "Ask the Captain" columnist Meryl Getline reassured readers of two reasons that a door can never be opened in-flight: one, most doors are of a "plug"-type design that requires significant maneuvering to open them because they are larger than the hole they fit in. Two, cabin pressurization exerts such a significant force on the fuselage that opening a door from the inside even if "unplugged," so to speak, would be extremely difficult if not impossible, even with the strength of several people combined.

Answer 5

The pressure inside the aircraft cabin will keep the door tightly closed. There is no need for any locking mechanism, though most doors have them anyway.

At altitude, the pressure differential inside the aircraft is about 8 PSI. That translates into about 8 tons of force keeping the main cabin doors closed, and around 2 tons of force keeping the emergency doors/windows closed.

All doors open inwards slightly before pivoting outwards. This ensures that the pressure differential keeps the door solidly closed under all normal circumstances.

Answer 6

The doors on typical commercial aircraft are "plug" type. Basically, the door has a flange that helps maintain integrity. Then, as the interior of the a/c pressurizes, much like a balloon inflating, it pushes against the iniside of the airplane, making it virually impossible to open. General aviation aircraft doors normally open outward and can be opened while inflight with some effort.

Answer 7

Aircraft doors have been opened in the past by psychotics. We can thank our aviation regulators for the changes made to prevent any repitition.
Remember D B Cooper, who parachuted over Colorado twenty years ago, with a cash ransom? He was the last person to be able to exit that way.
(Hey, D B, what did ya do with all that cash?) Or -- Did anyone ever find his remains?

Answer 8

Air pressure. The doors can't be opened until the pressure outside equals the air pressure inside. Otherwise any nutcase would just be able to open the latch at any exit row.

Answer 9

They design them so the air pressure holds the door in place. This was not always the case; there was a hijacker in the 1970s who opened the tail ramp and parachuted out over Utah.

Answer 10

aircraft doors have a safety lock however the doors can be opened by hitting the red overide button which kind of defeats the object, this is the only reason why i get nervous when i travel by craft