• Question: what would happen if a door was opened on an ascending aeroplane. would everything be sucked out?

    Asked by to Alan, Deepak, Francesca, Lilly, Nick on 14 Mar 2014. This question was also asked by .
    • Photo: Deepak Kar

      Deepak Kar answered on 14 Mar 2014:

      Good question! And some people actually raised this question, if something like this can be responsible for the possible crash of Malaysian airlines plane. From what I understood from the aviation experts, when a plane is flying at 30,000 feet or so, the pressure difference is so high between inside and outside that it is not humanly possible to open a door. Even at lower altitudes, pilots have an override to stop you opening the door, so you can fly without worrying about that 🙂

    • Photo: Francesca Day

      Francesca Day answered on 14 Mar 2014:

      It would be very dangerous, yes! When aeroplanes are very high up, the pressure inside the aeroplane is much higher than the pressure outside, so you could get sucked out if the door were opened! But there are safety mechanisms to stop people opening the door, so you don’t need to worry 🙂

    • Photo: Alan Fitzsimmons

      Alan Fitzsimmons answered on 14 Mar 2014:

      Yes, although you’re blown out, not sucked out! The pressure outside the plane will be much less than the pressure in the plane. So when you open a door or window, all the air inside the plane rushes to get out of the plane, taking you and your luggage with it. Just like blowing up a balloon then letting it go! The air tries to go from where the pressure is higher to where the pressure is lower.

      Deepak is right, you can’t open a door inwards when a plane is flying, because the pressure inside the plane is pushing it outwards. That’s why all doors in planes open inwards.

    • Photo: Nick Wright

      Nick Wright answered on 16 Mar 2014:

      Yes, the pressure different between the interior of the plane and the exterior would be so high that anything not strapped down would be sucked out. Luckily there are lots of safety mechanisms to prevent this from happening, so its very very unlikely that it would ever happen!

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