Summary
A JetBlue passenger on Flight 161 bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico, opened an emergency exit door and deployed the slide while the plane was taxiing at Logan Airport, Boston, on Tuesday evening.
Witnesses say the man had been arguing with his girlfriend before acting.
Other passengers restrained him until police arrived.
The FAA confirmed no injuries, and Massachusetts State Police stated the man will face charges.
The incident caused flight delays but was deemed isolated with no public safety threat.
The doors won’t open when the plane is in the air.
You should inform Boeing.
They will up to a certain altitude, when the internal pressure is too much to overcome. It’s probably very easy to open at say, 1-2000 feet.
From what I recall, they pressurize airliners to the equivalent altitude of 8,000 feet, so you have until that altitude to open the door.
Most aircraft are pressurized to 8000 feet, yes. Exceptions are the 787 and I believe some of the newer airbus models that are pressurized to 6000ft. It makes it more comfortable for passengers . One of the reasons this has been difficult to do until recently is that the fuselage undergoes a pressure cycle each time to aircraft takes off and lands which eventually causes metal fatigue and failure. The newer aircraft incorporated a lot of composite materials in their fuselage construction which aren’t as vulnerable to this particular type of failure, so they can safely pressurize to a higher relative pressure.
They don’t just instantly depressurize the plane to 8,000 feet, that’s just the highest cabin altitude that is typically set, as going higher than that can lead to hypoxia problems, and lower can create too much stress on the airframe. So pretty much as soon as you start ascending, the pressure differential is going to be high enough you’re going to struggle to open it, if you could get it to budge at all.