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mtrainer

What would happen if.....

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What would happen if.....

OK, folks please don't jump all over me, yes I made an incredibly fundamental mistake here.  I get it.  But it got me to thinking what would happen in real life if such a travesty were to actually occur?

I neglected to notice on the 737 NGX-900 overhead panel that all the external doors were still open, taxied out to the runway, and yep, took off!  Around 11K feet the airbags dropped and I quickly realized what happened and got it down to 10K feet as quick as I could.  There was no shutting the doors at that point.  I started to bring it around to land but in my worsening state of depression I figured this was most likely a lethal mistake, and as such just shut the simulator down.

The chances of this happening in real life are practically nil since some stewardesses or passengers would be beating the cockpit door down in a panic, but...let's armchair this thing for fun.

It seems to me a 250Kt slip stream working on that door would do one of three things.  In this instance I'll only address the possibilities of the forward cabin door on the pilot's side.

A)  The door would remain open and locked, and stay put due to the strength of its attachment to the fuselage and the fact it is locked in place (I assume).

B)  The door would eventually give way, swing shut, incredibly violently, and possibly damage the fuselage upon slamming so hard, perhaps even tearing a hole in the side of the aircraft.

C)  Dislodge completely, fall off, strike the leading section of the wing, and essentially bring the whole bird down.

It would be nice to hear an occasional call out from the stewardesses when things like the cabin is brutally cold and you don't notice because you're not paying attention to the temperature controls, or if folks are getting asphyxiated on ascent but again, due to an oblivious sim pilot one wouldn't know (but yet in real life you'd likely be getting an intercom call), or in my case taxing away fat dumb and happy with all the doors open.  

Mark Trainer
(Go easy on me please, it was the last flight of the day, and I had 5 Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders crammed into the cockpit- and yeah!  I got distracted!)

 

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Not only the screaming but the wind noise would have gotten your attention pretty quickly.  I can't imagine what mechanical damage would have been done, the cargo doors probably being the most in jeopardy.

The twin I fly has wing lockers in each  engine nacelle, and I had a flight once where I noticed the darned thing was open.  The slipstream allowed a gap about an inch.  Made a precautionary landing at nearest suitable field and jumped out and secured it.  That was my one time.

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Dan Downs KCRP

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That woulda been scary Dan lol. Years before I started flying, my dad told me a story about him flying a Saab Safir, I think it was and the pic failed to verify all doors were secure and after takeoff, the passenger door which hadn't been secured got wrenched open by the dynamic pressure of the slipstream. (Like how a wing generates lift). There was an ensuing battle between the forces of pressure for a while, (nobody could pull the door closed). They landed soon after but my dad recalls having the need for a change of underwear seeing as he was sitting in the passenger seat. Not a fun thought.

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Terence Jordan

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not only will be ugly, but you as capt be flying a shopping cart in supermarket. 

 

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Fernando A. Maldonado

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Chances are you’d cause some serious damage before you even got to the runway. Taxiing around with a large door open like that could cause lots of stress.

Different scenario, but a year or so ago I was flying from SEA-LAX. The ground crew came up and said the K loader was broken and they couldn’t move it away from the aircraft. Their solution was to push the plane back 20 feet or so and then close the door. Our manuals strictly prohibit ever moving the aircraft with the cargo door open because of the potential for massive structural damage. Granted, a main deck cargo door is larger than a passenger boarding door, but I still wouldn’t want to find out how much structural damage could result.

And in case you’re wondering, the ground crew ended up hooking up three or so gigs and pulling the K loader away, so all ended well. ;)

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How would you even write that up in the log book for the engineers - let alone writing a report for the fleet chief pilot!!

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Write up what?  The five extra bodies in the 737 cockpit, (well they would be fit & supple and might squeeze in there) or a write up about the open doors? Hehe... :uwe_melk_sblh:


Mark Robinson

Part-time Ferroequinologist

Author of FLIGHT: A near-future short story (ebook available on amazon)

I made the baby cry - A2A Simulations L-049 Constellation

Sky Simulations MD-11 V2.2 Pilot. The best "lite" MD-11 money can buy (well, it's not freeware!)

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