i had an argument that it would be possible to kick open an airplane window or break it open somehow and he said its impossible because the plane would crash and have no stability. i said only cabin pressure would be lost and the oxygen masks would come down so the people dont suffocate, but other then that the plane would continue on normally.
2007-03-04 06:16:47 · 9 answers · asked by 12345 2 in Cars & Transportation ➔ Aircraft
Funny you should ask.
Once upon a time, I was working the part-out of an old 727, removing the landing gears. We were off on a remote part of the field, and we needed to get a forklift. So the lead on the crew I was working on went off to get one, leaving the rest of us to just stand around and wait.
The company we were parting the airplane out for didn't want the cabin windows; the market was already flooded with them and they weren't worth much anyway. Two of the other guys on the crew got into an argument over the same exact question. Since there was nothing much better to do, they decided to resolve the question.
So, one guy went up in the cabin and out the emergency exit on to the wing, with a 3-lb sledgehammer (one of the short-handled ones). So he begins pounding on one of the cabin windows, really wailing away on it. After about 3 or 4 minutes, he gives up. The window is all beat up, distorted and scratched, but still in place. We pass him a crowbar, and he beats on it for a while with that. Finally, the window begins to bend, and finally pops out.
Now--as far as being able to crash the airplane because someone kicked out a window (which in and of itself would not be possible, unless you were either by yourself in the cabin or the rest of the passengers were too stupid to do something about you trying to kick out a window). No, you could cause a decompression--letting the pressurized air out, which in turn would cause the oxygen masks in the cabin to deploy like you mentioned.
While it's nice that they let the passengers suck on oxygen if there's a decompression, the ones to really worry about are the flight crew. Their oxygen system REALLY has to work; if it doesn't, it won't matter if the passenger system does or not. That's what happened to Payne Stewart and everyone else on board his airplane a few years back.
2007-03-04 06:46:25 · answer #1 · answered by SShenold 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The window is virtually impossible to kick out. If you took a sledge hammer to it, perhaps, though I think the flight crew might not appreciate your doing that. Crash the plane? Nonsense! All you'd do is cause the oxygen masks to drop from the overhead. Other than a warning light on the panel, the aircrew would have no indication of the incident initially. They would then calmly call ATC, advise them of the pressurization problem and request a lower altitude. The plane would descend to around 12,000 feet and continue on the the nearest airport. All this is for passenger comfort and safety, not the aircraft's. The plane couldn't care less.
2007-03-04 13:52:34 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well... You are right, the cabin pressure would be lost but the plane could continue on safely. But the other hand, you cannot kick open a window on a passenger aircraft, simply because it is too strong. Maybe three or four bullets would do the trick, but then again, I'm pretty sure you're not allowed to carry a gun on a passenger plane.
-About what I said when I said that the plane could continue on safely... This does not always happen without loss of life.
2007-03-04 09:15:52 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
Tell your friend he lost. Commercial aircraft use compressed air from the engine's compressor fan to pressurize the cabin. Air flows through the fuselage to a vent in the rear of the cabin. It is constantly moving. The vent is quite a bit larger than the window you would try to kick out. In the event that you were successful in kicking out the window ( which I doubt ) all that would be needed to pressurize the cabin would be for them to close the vent in the rear. An alarm will go off in the cockpit, and vent would be closed. The airworthieness of plane would in NO way be compromised. Your friend watches too much tv. There was a hawaiian airlines 737 that had the top 3rd blown off by an explosion! It landed with no difficulty. Check out www.faa.gov and go to the accident section to read about it.
2007-03-04 07:16:19 · answer #4 · answered by spikemode 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Agree with the rest. You couldn't do it, you wouldn't compromise the plane and the rest of the passengers would beat you within an inch of your life if you tried. One thing that 9/11 did was made passengers very proactive in restraining people who do things they don't consider entirely normal.
The air pressure difference is about 8psi and let's say a window is 80 square inches, that means they support a load of 640 pounds, then there's a large safety margin, you aren't going to be able to move one.
2007-03-04 11:07:05 · answer #5 · answered by Chris H 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you kicked the window out, you may go out with it, the rest of the plane will be fine however, it wont affect the engines or wings, just cabin pressurization
2007-03-04 10:07:46 · answer #6 · answered by ALOPILOT 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you could then you are right, the airplane would not be greatly affected. However, you cannot break an airplane window by any conventional means. It is 3/4 inch plexiglass and nothing short of explosives would break it.
2007-03-04 06:26:18 · answer #7 · answered by irishrunner1 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
take a look at this although the windows where not kicked off but rather fatigue cracks in the front of the fuselage very sad sadley one person go sucked out trying to save everyones lives god bless her
2007-03-04 11:40:19 · answer #8 · answered by Concorde 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ask the mythbusters
2007-03-04 06:24:39 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋