Can one open doors of aircraft during the flight?

Question

Consider inboard and outboard pressures to be equel.

Answer 1

One can if they are very stupid.

Answer 2

Well normally even on the ground the plane is pressurised. Flight attendants have opened to early as it is depresserizeing and have been thrown to the ground and killed... But the scenario your asking is presure outside equals pressure insde meaning the plane has lost pressure or has not been pressurised yet, Yes the doors could be open at that point. I saw a kid on a dc-8 over the wing snag the emergency exit door open and it fell in,, his dad just pushed it back up,, Well the pilot could not get the plane to pressureize and was going to take a mechanical, luckly i flaged down a flight attendant and explained what i saw and all three from the cockpit were back there putting the door back in position,,,

Answer 3

maybe

Answer 4

Depends on the aircraft. If you're talking about Cessna or a Super Cub, then yes. If you're talking about about a Beech 1900 at 5000' then yes. If you're talking about a 737 at 32,000 feet then no. If it's a helicopter, the door might be open to begin with, most balloons don't have any door. In any case, there are not many situations where opening the door mid-flight during an emergency would save your life.

Answer 5

Some doors can be, some cannot.

All of the Boeing doors open outward and forward, so when the aircraft is flying, the slipstream will prevent the door from opening.

I do not know about the MD-80 series, but I think that they open forwards, too, so they will not open in flight.

The MD-11 I am not familiar with, but see DC-10 nest.

The DC-10 has a powered door that opens upward, and one would be able to open it in flight, provided the safety interlocks could be by-passed.

However, I cannot think of any reason to open one in flight, regardless of circumstances. There are no parachutes, and if one jumped out, the tail most likely would cut a person in half.

Answer 6

NO!!! unless the plane is crashing though...

Answer 7

What kind of aircraft.  Commercial airlines have locking mechanisms.  When the plane flies, you cannot open the door.  This is because of a man who did this (I think in the 70's).  You can in some other planes.  Skydivers do it all the time.

Answer 8

Captain "Awesome" is wrong. The locking mechanism that he is referring to is the "DB Cooper" lock on a B727's aft stairs. Essentially, its a little vane in the windstream that causes an external cam to cover the door opening so that the rear airstairs cannot deploy inflight.

I know your question was "if the pressures were the same", however, the differential pressure is the "lock". Anytime you add a mechanism of any kind to an aircraft it has to:

A) be maintained

and

B) it adds weight

So, there is no "lock" on the doors on a commercial aircraft. The handle is rotated to the "lock" position, which essentially overcenters certain cams so that the door closing mechanism cannot be rotated back by vibration, it has to be done with some force. The doors are designed to be "plugs" in the fuselage. If you've ever seen a door articulate open, it does not swing open like the door on your house. It has to cant inwards before it swings through the opening to avoid getting stuck in the hole it covers. That is why the internal pressurization holds the door closed as a "lock".

In your scenario, if the pressurization hasn't occured, yes, theoretically, the door could be opened. However, pressurization isn't the only natural force holding the door closed. The slipstream of air passing by the fuselage at +500 MPH would be a serious force to overcome when trying to deploy the cabin door. Sliding-type doors like those on an L-1011 would not face that type of problem since they pressurize upwards.

Answer 9

Yes, which is why they have locking mechanisms.

Answer 10

Lots of "interesting" answers above, but mostly not too accurate..  Light aircraft with doors that open outward can be opened, at least a bit.  Trying to push a large door into a 160 kt airflow is challenging.  Most large pressurized aircraft have "plug" type doors.  Once the aircraft is pressurized, don't even bother trying.  The door may as well be welded shut due to the pressure differential between the pressurized cabin and the ambient outside pressure.