If an airplane door were to open at a high altitude, where would the air move?

Question

If an airplane door were to open at a high altitude, in which direction would the air move...into or out of the plane? Why?

Answer 1

The air would move out......its called decompression,but the chances a door will open in flight are almost non-existent.Most passenger and service doors are plug type doors(that is they have to pushed from inside the aircraft into the opening).Try to open a door when you have a very strong wind blowing on the door....its very hard to do and highly unlikely it would open in flight either intentional or unintentional.The cabin is pressurized so you can breathe ,so you have a force(air) inside the airplane that is greater than the outside pressure, so if there is a leak the air escapes....but the event does not last that long(decompression)......it only takes a short while for the pressure to equalize.

Answer 2

WHAT A WERID QUESTION.THE AIR WOULD GO INTO THE PLANE BLOW THE PEOPLE OUT..

Answer 3

Actually,during flight when the aircraft is travelling at average of 40,000feet,the aircraft is being pressurized because the higher altitude the aircraft travel,the lower the pressure is and less oxygen.So all aircrafts are pressurized at 8000ft worth of pressure according to ICAO(International Civil Aviation Organization) standards(high pressure cabin,low pressure outside).Pressure is acting towards all parts of the aircraft and its 'impossible' to open the door during flight.Even if the aircraft just landed and halfway parkng at the terminal,its impossible still to open the doors.The pilot have to open a valve to release pressure and hence the door will be able to open.If somehow a mishap happen,like a passenger window being hit violently and blows up,the cabin will loose its pressure(decompression) and aircraft will descend at a very fast rate at a short period of time to a suitable altitude in which the pressure is being equalised.Yes people will get sucked out of the cabin if they didnt fasten their seatbelts.The air moves inside out from the aircraft cabin to the sky(outside of the aircraft).

Answer 4

First of all this is highly unlikely. The door has to be unlatched and then pulled in before sliding out therefore the pressure inside the plane is actually helping to hold the door closed.

Secondly because the pressure is so low outside the plain the air would be sucked out along with anything loose like paper, loose luggage and unrestrained people. At this point the oxygen masks pop out to give you enough oxygen to stay concious long enough to give the captain enough time to stabilize the plane and get to a lower altitude where there is enough oxygen. This is when you place the mask over your head, pull the cord on the back to tighten. The bag may not inflate but this does not mean there is no oxygen flowing to the mask. Always attach your mask before helping others. (Sorry had a lapse. They make us memorize that so it kinda pops out without being told to.) =)

Hope this helps.

Answer 5

well to begin with, the door would rip off and it's likely it would bring other parts of the fuselage with it; meaning there isn't much of a plane left for the air to move about in

Answer 6

the plane has an internal pressure to keep you breathing just like you were on the ground. if a door blew open the air in the plane would go out until the pressure became equal. This is seen in movies rather often. things close to the opening could be sucked out between the time when the opening occured and when the pressure inside and outside became equal.

If the plane was over 14000 feet there would not be enough oxygen and anyone not on an artifical air supply quickly would pass out and possibly die - depending on the altitude. The first thing a pilot would do is drop to an altitude where people could breath.

Answer 7

from inside the plane to outside it.

first u must know that people live in a normal pressure not hight not low.. and u must know that the wind moves from the higth pressured place to the low ones.. and when ever u go up above the see surface the pressure gets lower till it vaniches

and of course in side the plane it is a normal pressure thats how we can breath and live on it so as the rule states the wind goes from the hight to low pressure in our case it will go from the normal to the low

good luck

Answer 8

The air would move out of the plane. Basically the force would suck out anyone not buckled in.

The reason is because at high altitude, there's less pressure, but the airplane is pressurized, so similar to a balloon, the air would escape quit quickly out of an airplane, so quickly many passengers would be sucked out as well.

This actually happened about 20 years ago, over Hawaii. Two stewardesses where sucked out over the ocean when  a door opened in mid-flight.

Answer 9

The incident over Hawaii was not a door opening- the fuselage failed and ripped open (although the airplane, a 737, did return to land.)

Passenger doors are held against stops and can't open with pressure in the airplane (they have to move inward to open).  The issue is cargo doors which are hinged and open outward.

Answer 10

Well, since we all know that EVERYTHING you see in the movies is the ABSOLUTE TRUTH, and you should always believe what you see...  When a door comes open in flight, everything inside the airplane, including flight attendants and unrestrained small children will be sucked out of the cabin and then the airplane will spontaneously burst into flames and you will all die a terrible, screaming death when the airplane plunges into the ocean... Except for one guy who lives to tell the tale and goes on to become a hero.

It happens at least twice a day, all around the world!

Answer 11

In the movies i see that the air will be sucked out . in the movie " airplane 75 " the cockpit was hit by a small airplane and torn from the side.

the air sucked out the co-pilot and . but after the the hit the air pressure stabilized and the stewardess could sit in the ruptured cockpit like if she is in a balcony except that the air speed was stronger from a balcony .