Tejasvi Surya, national president of the BJP Yuva Morcha and the party’s MP from Bengaluru South, allegedly opened the emergency exit of an IndiGo aircraft at Chennai airport on December 10 last year. The aircraft was on the ground at the time of the incident. The airline released a statement on Tuesday (January 17), which did not name Surya; only mentioned “a passenger travelling on Flight 6E 7339 from Chennai to Tiruchirapalli on Dec 10, 2022” who had “accidentally opened the emergency exit”. In a statement, civil aviation regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) referred to a “mistake” by a passenger on the aircraft. The aircraft was reportedly taxiing for takeoff when the emergency exit door opened. In accordance with protocol, the passengers were taken off and the aircraft left only after it had been thoroughly examined. This is not the first time that a passenger has tried to open an aircraft’s emergency door. The history of civil aviation is peppered with incidents in which passengers have tried to open an emergency door — not only on the ground but also mid-air. Why do aircraft have emergency doors? Emergency doors, as the name suggests, are intended to help passengers and crew quickly evacuate an aircraft in an emergency — a ditching, crash-landing, a burning, when smoke fills the cabin, or any other event that may require an immediate evacuation in order to ensure the safety of passengers and crew on board. The doors are to be opened only under specific orders by the crew to evacuate during an emergency — and under no other circumstances. During testing and certification, aircraft manufacturers are required to demonstrate that all passengers, in maximum-seating capacity, can be evacuated within 90 seconds, factoring in malfunctioning devices or blocked doors, during an emergency. In 2006, Airbus, during a mock emergency, demonstrated that 853 passengers and crew members could safely evacuate its superjumbo Airbus A380 in just 78 seconds, an impressive feat. Where are the emergency doors located? In commercial jets, the doors are usually located above the aircraft’s wings, accessible by passengers. Emergency doors are separate from, and in addition to, an aircraft’s regular front and rear doors. Should you be scared to sit next to an emergency exit? Not at all. In fact, the seats next to the emergency exits have more leg space, and are hence more comfortable. However, you must never try to open the door — it affects flight safety, constitutes a violation of regulatory rules, and you will be liable for action. A member of the cabin crew always separately and directly briefs the passengers occupying the seats next to these doors on how to open them in an emergency. If the seats next to the emergency doors are empty, cabin crew members usually look for volunteers. A child or an elderly passenger who may find it difficult to open the emergency door is usually discouraged from sitting next to it. Can a passenger open an emergency exit on the ground? As the Chennai incident illustrates, it is indeed possible for a passenger to open an emergency door when the aircraft is on the ground. There have been several instances around the world when a passenger has done so — some have even stepped out and walked on the aircraft's wings, and later told law enforcement that “the cabin was stuffy and they wanted some fresh air”. However, doing this constitutes a violation — unless authorised by crew members to do so during an emergency. And can a passenger open a plane door mid-air? It happens only in movies. In reality, it is impossible for either passengers or crew to do so mid-flight. That’s because humans don’t have the strength to overcome the tremendous air pressure pushing against the door in a pressurised cabin. At cruising altitude, where the outside air is thin and contains less oxygen, aircraft cabins are pressurised to conditions that exist at about 8,000 ft above sea level, so that passengers can breathe normally. According to airline pilot Patrick Smith, the author of 'Cockpit Confidential' and creator of the popular aviation website AskThePilot.com, “At a typical cruising altitude, up to eight pounds of pressure are pushing against every square inch of interior fuselage. That’s over 1,100 pounds against each square foot of door. Even at low altitudes, where cabin pressure levels are much less, a meagre 2 psi differential is still more than anyone can displace… The doors are further held secure by a series of electrical and/or mechanical latches.” Before takeoff, and after landing, one hears the pilot tell the cabin crew to “arm” or “disarm” doors. What does that mean? When a door is ‘armed’, it means the inflatable emergency escape slide will deploy automatically and inflate if the door is opened. The slide deploys with huge force and can inflate in six seconds. When a door is 'armed’, it is ready for use in an emergency evacuation. When a door is ‘disarmed’, it means the inflatable slide has been deactivated. “As an aircraft approaches the gate, you will sometimes hear the cabin crew calling out ‘doors to manual’ or ‘disarm doors’. This has to do with overriding the automatic deployment function of the slides. Those slides can unfurl with enough force to kill a person, and you don’t want them billowing onto the jet bridge or into a catering truck,” writes Smith.
