Posted on 01/09/2024 1:34:04 PM PST by billorites
After an emergency exit-sized hole opened in the side of Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 at 16,000 feet, a separate chaotic episode erupted when the cockpit door mysteriously flew open.
That meant the pilots were subjected to the deafening wind and noise from the back of the plane—and also made the cockpit accessible to anyone inclined to try to force their way in.
What the flight crew didn’t know at the time, federal investigators said Monday, was that it was supposed to happen that way.
What the flight crew didn’t know at the time, federal investigators said Monday, was that it was supposed to happen that way. Boeing had designed the cockpit door to open during a rapid decompression incident, they said. The company just hadn’t said so in the manual.
Even veteran aviation-safety experts and former regulators said they weren’t aware of this design feature. Some said it appears to expose a security flaw that now must be addressed.
“There was a lot of energy put into getting those doors secured so they only open from the pilots’ side,” said Ray White, a former regional director of the Transportation Security Administration. “To find out that they blow out in an emergency, boy that is a vulnerability.”
The aircraft’s cockpit is designed to open in circumstances akin to that experienced Friday night by the Alaska Airlines jet , according to the National Transportation Safety Board. The agency’s chair, Jennifer Homendy, said in a briefing Monday that Boeing is going to make changes to the manual, with the expectation that they would translate into procedures and information for the flight attendants and the cockpit crew.
Boeing declined comment.
After the 9/11 attacks, officials with regulators including the TSA and Federal Aviation Administration worked with aircraft manufacturers to determine how to secure cockpits
(Excerpt) Read more at wsj.com ...
“The company just hadn’t said so in the manual.”
Sounds like the tech writer for the manual graduated from the Lloyd Austin Surgical School.
Nikky Boeing said no comment.
Boeing has too many friends in high places in South Carolina to fail.
Nothing to see here.
Move along.
“Republican elected officials across South Carolina who have received campaign donations from Boeing were unavailable for comment”.
“Some said it appears to expose a security flaw that now must be addressed.”
Yeah…because that is when the terror squad is ready to strike. That’s their go signal. The national security State never rests.
Morons
Wouldn’t a cabin decompression at 16,000 feet with a hole in the plane make storming the cockpit rather unlikely.?
There was a saying back in the day, “If it don’t say Boeing then I ain’t going.” Now I think not so much.
Sabotage in the fuselage?
Someone cut corners. If the cabin decompresses, parts of the the door panel may give away to allow for pressure equalization but enough metal should remain to keep attackers out of the cockpit.
That’s not a bug, its a feature
Not safety wired?
If it’s Boeing, I ain’t going.
More like inferior quality control.
Diversity hires?
That depends. Was the door designed to handle catastrophic rapid depressurization?
If the answer is “no”, then the door is not to blame.
CC
14.7 psi x 72 inches tall x x 24 inches wide = 25,400 pounds of pressure. Adjust for different door sizes and residual air pressure in the cabin and you still get tons of pressure on that door. Either it has to be vented or built like the aircraft entry door to fix it.
Yeah Boeing didn’t put MCAS details in the manual either. Not that it would have helped much considering how horribly flawed the design was.
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