When MP Tejasvi Surya opened the emergency door of a Chennai-Tiruchirapalli IndiGo flight, what risks followed? Can emergency doors open without deliberate effort?
Pilots and cabin crew flying different aircraft in India took Metrolife questions.
‘Taken for grab bars’
The chances of passengers mistakenly opening the emergency door is higher on ATR aircrafts, says a senior cabin crew member. Surya was on an ATR, a plane used for short distances.
She says: “On ATRs, the handle to pull the emergency door is overhead and has no cover. It is a bit like the grab handles we use in cars and buses to get up or get out. Sometimes people, especially new fliers, mistake the handle for a support handle. Some grab it out of muscle memory.”
Pulling the handle down throws the emergency door open because “these handles are designed to be simple and quick to respond in times of evacuation.”
An Airbus pilot says, “Seats next to emergency doors in ATR don’t have armrests, so people inadvertently reach for the handle. We have a lot of new passengers flying, some can pull the handles out of curiosity or ignorance.”
On the Airbus, these handles are covered with a flap which needs to be first removed, the cabin staffer says.
The Airbus pilot says the emergency exit procedures can differ across aircrafts: “If you have noticed, the ATR has wings on top while the Airbus has wings on the bottom. So how you remove and throw the emergency door differs.”
Furthermore, he says, “The emergency door in Airbus weighs 15 kg. Only able-bodied passengers are allowed to sit next to the emergency door after they have given their consent to operate it. Children are never given those seats.”
Even the door designs differ, says a Boeing pilot. On the ATR, doors are detachable, or ‘plug type’. On others, they are ‘hatch type’. They can be pulled down and shut.
Exit doors can’t open mid-air because of the differential pressure inside and outside. The Boeing pilot says the doors open only when the flight is grounded.
Response systems
If the emergency door opens, the captain of the flight gets an alert, they say.
Even during an emergency situation, passengers aren’t allowed to open these exit doors at their will.
“Only when the flight captain gives a command to evacuate can they open it,” says the Boeing pilot.
Departure takes time
The Chennai-Tiruchirapalli flight was grounded for two hours after the emergency door came undone in the Tejasvi Surya incident.
“Before flights take off, the air is pumped and artificial pressure is built inside the aircraft. A cabin pressurisation test is done in such cases, as also tests for air leakage. These are manual and lengthy processes,” the cabin staffer explains.
Damage to the door and locks also needs to be assessed, says the Boeing pilot. “A lot of paperwork is done, such as offering an explanation to the DGCA (aviation regulator), before the plane can fly again,” the Airbus pilot says.
Some recent incidents
- In 2021, a man on a SpiceJet flight from Delhi to Varanasi tried to open the emergency door mid-air. The cabin crew intervened and held him till the flight landed. He was reportedly depressed after his girlfriend left him.
- In 2019, a first-time flier mistook an emergency exit for a regular window on a GoAir Bengaluru-Lucknow flight and opened it while the plane was taxiing. The plane was grounded. A case was registered against the flier, a carpenter. He was later let off with a warning.
- A man travelling on a Mumbai-Chandigarh IndiGo flight was booked in 2017 after he opened an emergency door and inflated the slide. A passenger was injured.
- In 2017, a man on an AirAsia flight from Delhi was arrested for attempting to open an emergency door moments
before touchdown in Ranchi. The door did not open and the flight landed
safely.
What the law says
Prima facie, the cases involving the opening of emergency doors come under the purview of The Aircraft Rules, and Aircraft (Investigation of Accidents and Incidents) Rules, says advocate Indra Dhanush. These rules cover the operational aspects of flights and the safety of passengers.
He says: “Fine, imprisonment or warning — the type and term of punishment will depend on the kind of complaint that is lodged with the airport police station. For instance, did the incident hurt other passengers? Did it cause unusual delays? Was it deliberate or a mistake?”
Deccan Herald is on WhatsApp Channels| Join now for Breaking News & Editor's Picks