Comments on: Senator questions why pilots were unaware of 737-9 cockpit door blowout feature /articles/alaska-airlines-door-plug-blowout-cockpit-door Aviation news Mon, 08 Apr 2024 06:15:15 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.5 By: Kevin Hall /articles/alaska-airlines-door-plug-blowout-cockpit-door#comment-995 Fri, 05 Apr 2024 19:47:55 +0000 /?p=94048#comment-995 Far safer to design the cockpit door to open in a safe manner than allow the pressure differential to increase until the fixtures holding it fail and blow the whole door down the aisle with greater force. There are probably many safety features on the aircraft that aren’t mentioned in the flight manual. The door opening in a controlled manner didn’t prevent the flight crew operating safely.

]]> By: Tom Falley /articles/alaska-airlines-door-plug-blowout-cockpit-door#comment-987 Fri, 05 Apr 2024 17:15:38 +0000 /?p=94048#comment-987 Ms Duckworth is off base here. The cockpit door is going to have to blow open because of the nature of the pressure differential between the cockpit and cabin with the sudden loss of pressure. In the good old days there were blow out panels, we called them “doggy doors” but with the newer reinforced doors this feature is not available. The door is going to go by design or by structural failure, take your pick. An observant and experienced pilot with a basic understanding of atmospheric science should understand this.

I was an airline pilot for some 30 years and fortunately did not have to count a rapid depressurization amongst the various adventures encountered.

It’s going to blow either by design or by destruction.

]]>