Would This Really Happen If……?

Question

I have just been to Latvia for a few days and whilst on the plane both going out and coming back I was just wondering if…

I was watching a James Bond film many years ago and whilst the plane was up in the air a fight broke out and guns were used.

One of the bullets broke through the glass/perspex window. The cabin depressurised and one man got sucked out the plane.

Was this affect just to make the film look more interesting or would this really happen in the ‘real world’

If for some reason the window broke on a plane then would all the people on the flight get sucked out the window????

Thanks

Answer 1

yes, it can happen if the jet is over 20,000 feet. The cabin is pressurized for your comfort.  If a hole ever opened in flight, everything that is not bolted down will get sucked out.

There has never been a case of a window breaking as with the pressurization, the cabin tightens even more on the windows.  A small window is very difficult to break.

Answer 2

No, not everyone. In fact, it's likely that no one would be sucked out because of something as tiny as a bullet hole. Although rare, these types of accidents have happened and they demonstrate what is possible.

There was such an accident on an Aloha Airlines 737 (not Hawaiian Airlines, as stated in another answer). In that case, metal fatigue caused a huge section of the upper fuselage to peel open. A flight attendant who was standing in the aisle was sucked out. However, two other flight attendants  who were in the aisles were not. Passengers who were belted into their seats subsequently held them down so that they stayed in the aircraft.

On the other hand, a Turkish Airways DC-10 also suffered explosive decompression in 1974 when a cargo door blew out in flight. The resulting damage was so severe that a few seats were sucked out the rear of the aircraft with the passengers still in them. The damage also crippled some of the aircraft's controls, resulting in a crash.

However, an American Airlines DC-10 had suffered the same accident in 1972. In that case, the aircraft was also badly damaged. However, no passengers were sucked out and the pilots were able to land safely.

All of these accidents involved holes that were far larger than a simple bullet hole. A few people were, unfortunately, sucked out as a result. However, it was not remotely close to everyone on the aircraft.

A bullet hole would depressurize the plane, but a person would not get sucked out through something that small. The oxygen masks would deploy and the pilot would descend to a safe altitude and land at the nearest airport.  The passengers and crew would get a good scare. That would likely be the extent of it. The movie version was just for dramatic effect.

Answer 3

Yes it could happen.  There was a Hawaiin airlines flight that cracked open and a flight attendent got suck out.

If the crack is small,  and as long as the plane can get below a certain alitude quickly, the plane can remain intact and minimalize the amount of people who get sucked out.

But the basic idea of that moive could easily happen...