Travel

EasyJet passengers terrified as man tries to open plane door mid-flight at 30,000ft


An easyJet passenger sparked panic as he attempted to open a plane door when the aircraft was at 30,000ft en route from Gatwick Airport to Pisa, Italy yesterday. According to eyewitnesses, the man – who was wearing “a heavy coat” – looked “nervous” when he went into a toilet on the Airbus A319. When he emerged, he headed straight for the emergency exit and tried to open the plane door by pulling on its handle. EasyJet passenger Richard Conyard, 42, told The Sun that crew screamed at the man to stop.

Other passengers also shouted at him when they saw what he was doing and were “very scared.”

Conyard said “A couple of guys went to help. I joined them. We bundled him into a seat.

“Some women nearby were asked to swap seats so all these burly blokes could sit around him and box him in.”

He added: “He just sat there until we landed. We had to stay in our seats until police arrived.”

Police met the aircraft on arrival at Pisa and a man in his 30s from Siena in Italy was questioned, reported The Sun.

A easyJet spokesman told Express.co.uk: “easyJet can confirm that the Captain of flight EZY8233 from London Gatwick to Pisa on 24 April requested police to meet the aircraft on arrival as a passenger made an attempt to open one of the cabin doors during the descent.

“While it would not have been possible to open the door due to the cabin pressurisation, the crew responded quickly to ensure the passenger remained seated until landing.

“EasyJet’s cabin crew are trained to assess and evaluate all situations and to act quickly and appropriately to ensure that the safety of the flight and other passengers is not compromised at any time. Safety is always easyJet’s highest priority.”

Patrick Smith explained in his book Cockpit Confidential that “you cannot open the doors or emergency hatches of an airplane in flight.”

This is due to the cabin pressure – it simply won’t allowed the door to open.

“Think of an aircraft as a drain plug, fixed in place by the interior pressure,” wrote Smith.

“Almost all aircraft exits open inward. Some retract upward into the ceiling; others swing outward but they open inwards first, and not even the most musclebound human will overcome the force holding them shut.

“At a typical cruising altitude, up to eight pounds of pressure are pushing against every square inch of interior fuselage. That’s more than 1,100 pounds against each square foot of door.”

Cabin crew have revealed they have a codeword to describe muscular passengers who could come in useful if something does go wrong during a flight. 

Carrie Bradley, who worked as a flight attendant on an international airline for 12 years, told The Sun they keep an eye out for someone who is an “ABP.”

She said: “When passengers are boarding, you’re assessing them and seeing if they are an ABP.”

The acronym stands for “Able-Bodied Passenger.” In short, well-built passengers could be very useful in an emergency.

Crew will identify these fit and healthy people as they walk in the door and then note where they are sitting in the aircraft.

Janice Bridger, who claimed to have been a flight attendant for 27 years,  added: “If I see someone who is muscular, powerful, strong, physically fit, I memorise his/her face and make a mental note of where they are sitting,” said Bridger on US knowledge-sharing site Quora.

“I consider this person a resource for me. In the event of an attack on the flight or on me, these are my ‘go-to’ people.”

 



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