Reuters: Asiana passenger reportedly opens A321 emergency exit during approach
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Reuters: Asiana passenger reportedly opens A321 emergency exit during approach
Reuters reporting that a door was opened on an Asiana A321 while it was on approach into Daeg, South Korea.
Reuters, 26th May 2023;
https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-p...ht-2023-05-26/
Tweet with video of the alleged incidentJAS
Reuters, 26th May 2023;
SEOUL, May 26 (Reuters) - South Korean police have launched an investigation after Asiana Airlines said a passenger opened a door on a flight shortly before the aircraft landed safely in the city of Daegu on Friday.
The Airbus A321 plane landed at Daegu airport at around 12:40 p.m. (0340 GMT) after departing from the island of Jeju an hour earlier, the airport's flight schedule showed.
No one was hurt in the incident, but nine people were transferred to a nearby hospital after suffering breathing issues, a Daegu fire department official said.
The Airbus A321 plane landed at Daegu airport at around 12:40 p.m. (0340 GMT) after departing from the island of Jeju an hour earlier, the airport's flight schedule showed.
No one was hurt in the incident, but nine people were transferred to a nearby hospital after suffering breathing issues, a Daegu fire department official said.
Tweet with video of the alleged incidentJAS
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The news report on CNN shows the video, and it looks understandably breezy in the seats near the exit. The news reports that the exit was opened 700 feet up on approach (so no time to reseat the nearby passengers), and the offender was arrested.
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I'm retired narrowbody Airbus. I always told people the doors couldn't be opened from inside when pressurized. But I guess that door is not a plug type? Can someone remind me of how those doors operate?
Imagine trying to open a car door at 100mph...impossible. Now try opening a door 2 x the size and weight at nearly 200mph. Also impossible unless the door opens backwards but not in the Korean snaps and that's ignoring the fact that these emergency exit doors have a red or green tab window showing its pressurized or not.
According to the FCOM they are plug type doors. I think in this case the aircraft was pretty much depressurised as it was on approach, and the assist system managed to overcome the residual pressure and the slipstream.
emergency doors should be mechanically locked in flight; lock is released when aircraft lands; Airbus emergency lights illuminate when aircraft is on the ground; this is part of the lock release/ground safety systems. More to this story I guess
I can see no mention of a mechanical lock in the FCOM. What would happen if the lock failed to disengage on landing, and you needed to get out in a hurry?
The only lock I can see any mention of is the normal door locking system.
Overwing emergency exits on the A319, A320 and (newer) A321 models are plug-type. This wasn't an overwing E/E.
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9 injured as plane's door opens before landing
By Son Ji-hyoung
The Korea Herald 2023.05.26
According to Asiana Airlines and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a male passenger in his 30s who was sitting in an emergency exit aisle pulled the emergency exit lever by force. The man reportedly claimed that he accidentally opened the door by touching the wrong device.
At least nine people suffered minor injuries and were sent to a hospital in Daegu ... The nine people had hyperventilated, according to fire authorities in Daegu. Some young passengers were reported to have panicked, crying and screaming as the air pressure deafened them. Among the injured passengers were eight student athletes traveling to compete in the National Junior Sports Festival that kicks off Saturday ...
Passenger opens door of Asiana Airlines plane before landing at Daegu airport
Yonhap News Agency 2023.05.26
When the suspect tried to pull the lever of the exit door, flight attendants were not able to stop him because the plane was about to land.
Witnesses said the suspect attempted to jump out after opening the door.
"Flight attendants shouted for help from male passengers and people all around clung to him and pulled him in," a witness said.
Another 44-year-old passenger said a door in the middle of the left side of the plane opened with a detonating sound about 10 minutes before landing.
Police said [the man] was not drunk at the time of detention, but remained tight-lipped about why he [opened the door].
"It is difficult to have a normal conversation with him," an official said. "We will investigate the motive of the crime and punish him."
Police said he was traveling alone.
By Son Ji-hyoung
The Korea Herald 2023.05.26
According to Asiana Airlines and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, a male passenger in his 30s who was sitting in an emergency exit aisle pulled the emergency exit lever by force. The man reportedly claimed that he accidentally opened the door by touching the wrong device.
At least nine people suffered minor injuries and were sent to a hospital in Daegu ... The nine people had hyperventilated, according to fire authorities in Daegu. Some young passengers were reported to have panicked, crying and screaming as the air pressure deafened them. Among the injured passengers were eight student athletes traveling to compete in the National Junior Sports Festival that kicks off Saturday ...
Passenger opens door of Asiana Airlines plane before landing at Daegu airport
Yonhap News Agency 2023.05.26
When the suspect tried to pull the lever of the exit door, flight attendants were not able to stop him because the plane was about to land.
Witnesses said the suspect attempted to jump out after opening the door.
"Flight attendants shouted for help from male passengers and people all around clung to him and pulled him in," a witness said.
Another 44-year-old passenger said a door in the middle of the left side of the plane opened with a detonating sound about 10 minutes before landing.
Police said [the man] was not drunk at the time of detention, but remained tight-lipped about why he [opened the door].
"It is difficult to have a normal conversation with him," an official said. "We will investigate the motive of the crime and punish him."
Police said he was traveling alone.
Last edited by EddyCurr; 26th May 2023 at 17:19.
Well yes, it's true that Airbus refer to those (and the entry doors, come to that) as "plug" doors. 
Everyone I've met in my career has called them "semi-plug" - the difference being that they are held in place, not by the shape of the door and the hole (i.e. like a bathplug) but by stops built into the door frame. The clue is whether the door has to move inwards (at least initially) in order to open it or whether, as with the Airbus narrow-bodies, it simply moves up to clear the stops and then outward (as per the diagram).
The important factor in this instance is how much (or little) resistance cabin pressure would put in the way of the door opening on final approach.
Everyone I've met in my career has called them "semi-plug" - the difference being that they are held in place, not by the shape of the door and the hole (i.e. like a bathplug) but by stops built into the door frame. The clue is whether the door has to move inwards (at least initially) in order to open it or whether, as with the Airbus narrow-bodies, it simply moves up to clear the stops and then outward (as per the diagram).
The important factor in this instance is how much (or little) resistance cabin pressure would put in the way of the door opening on final approach.
We seem to be in Pprune land back and forth between what we think the type of doors are. I fly neos and ceos. The video clearly shows a 'plug' type door. Some neos have overwing doors which are electrically locked at 80kts during take off and unlock after landing. This door was not one of those.
We seem to be in Pprune land back and forth between what we think the type of doors are. I fly neos and ceos. The video clearly shows a 'plug' type door. Some neos have overwing doors which are electrically locked at 80kts during take off and unlock after landing. This door was not one of those.
Like any 10-year-old A321ceo, the incident aircraft has 4 conventional doors (not hatches) on each side, L3 being the one involved.
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"Flight attendants shouted for help from male passengers and people all around clung to him and pulled him in," a witness said."
I would have been thinking, "why would i want to pull him back in? I'll help him out with a kick."
I would have been thinking, "why would i want to pull him back in? I'll help him out with a kick."
From the photo it. appears they had an emergency slide deployment too.
Can we all agree that, impossible as it seems to some, that the man did indeed manage to get the door open in flight?
Can we all agree that, impossible as it seems to some, that the man did indeed manage to get the door open in flight?
Last edited by albatross; 26th May 2023 at 21:13.