Thread: Emergency Exit door opens on Emirates Airbus A380

A TOURIST has told of his flight of terror when he claims an emergency exit on a superjumbo blew open at 27,000ft.
Briton David Reid and his son Lewis feared a bomb had gone off after hearing a "massive explosion" two hours into their flight on the brand new $376 million Emirates Airbus A380.
Freezing air blasted in and the cabin pressure plunged after the door in business class came nearly four centimetres ajar, leaving a gaping hole, Mr Reid told the Daily Mail.
As passengers wept in terror, he said, a petrified stewardess ran down the aisle and screamed "the door’s going to go" before cowering behind her seat.


Astonishingly, according to Mr Reid, instead of making an emergency landing, the crew decided to stuff blankets and pillows stuck together with gaffer tape into the hole and continue the flight despite a horrendous droning noise and sub-zero temperatures, as photographed by Mr Reid and his son.
The drama happened on Monday as the two Britons flew from Bangkok to Hong Kong as part of what was planned as a "trip of a lifetime" after Mr Reid had spent months battling leukaemia.
"We were about two hours in when suddenly there was a huge blast," he said.
"It was a real shock, so loud that I thought a bomb might have gone off. Air was gushing into the cabin like a gale. The stewardess jumped up and stared at the door. Her face was drained white. She ran up the aisle, grabbed the intercom and started screaming, 'The door’s going to go, the door’s going to go!' Then she hid under her chair.

Emergency Exit door opens in explosion on Emirates Airbus A380 | News.com.au

Excellent response by the stewardess...

" started screaming, 'The door’s going to go, the door’s going to go!' Then she hid under her chair."

That's professionalism that is.

I keep thinking of Bull Paxton in Aliens sceaming "We're all gonna die.."
ROTFLAO

Originally Posted by klong toey

"trip of a lifetime"

It's not often an airplane door pops open mid flight so in a way It was a once in a life time experience.

surely a door is so desighned that the internal pressure tightens it onto its door seal,
sounds like that lady behind the seat focked up.

^ think you'll find the doors open outward

Methinks this story has been spiced up somewhat. No way would the captain of the aircraft risk the safety of the plane and passengers. Nice to see the blankets being put to good use.

Having flown business class on the A380 I can highly recommend the nice bar area at the rear of business class.

Originally Posted by bretby

Having flown business class on the A380 I can highly recommend the nice bar area at the rear of business class.

I heard it was a bit chilly.

Originally Posted by The Fresh Prince

Originally Posted by bretby

Having flown business class on the A380 I can highly recommend the nice bar area at the rear of business class.

I heard it was a bit chilly.

Nope the beer`s in bottles, no draft

Originally Posted by Necron99

" started screaming, 'The door’s going to go, the door’s going to go!' Then she hid under her chair."

That's professionalism that is.

One of Gary Larson's (The Far Side) classics..

British tabloid papers at their best.

If the flight was Bangkok to HKG and was already 2 hours into the flight, the pilot's decision to carry on to HKG was likely the best available option. What as the altitude? Did the masks come down? Missing some significant info.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

An Airbus spokesman said: ‘It is not possible for a cabin door to open on an A380 or on any aircraft whilst in flight, as doors open inwards and have locking mechanisms.’

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

An Airbus spokesman said: ‘It is not possible for a cabin door to open on an A380 or on any aircraft whilst in flight, as doors open inwards and have locking mechanisms.’

what he said, is what i said , sort off

Possible part of the door seal blew out.

More likely that somebody didn't shut it.

^
Maybe a seal was defective, blew out and left an inch gap








Bugger. Necron got there first

^ the hero behind the seat.

I thought all those cross locked door circuits had to be in the correct position before take off other wise the pilot wouldnt have authorised the push off surely ?

Couple of observations

The flight between hk and bkk is about two and a half hours. Given they had been flying for two hours and that ther a limited number of airports that can handled the A380.... its quite proably that HK was the nearest airport for an emergency lansing.

I don't think that the father or son would have been unable to take the picture of the door they did, if they had been wearing oxgygen masks and if they had depolyed what would have been the deployed thoughout the plane.... so what would ahve been the point of drawing the curton to stop cattle class from being spooked?
So its reasonable to say that cabin pressure was maintained... ether because the aircraft was capable of replacing the leaking air or the flight crew reduced altitude. or as the witness was saying.... air was coming into the aircraft.

as for the stewardess, grabing a seat and buckling up seems a perfectly reasoable reaction aster all she going to be no help is she gets sucked out the plane if the door does go. as for the rest of it, given the level to which these jobs are over subscribed, you would have thought they could employ some pychometic testing to weed out the headless chicken personalities.

The doors are bigger than the door opening, rather like the lid on a cornelious keg, the door opens inwards turns a bit and then slids out. so in principle the door should not be able to just open, particularly with the cabin pressure pushing it inot the frame. So its going to be interesting hearing what failed to allow the opening to form. on has to wonder, was the open less than 4cm and was it simplpy the sealing material between the airframe and the door that failed?

Originally Posted by Necron99

" started screaming, 'The door’s going to go, the door’s going to go!' Then she hid under her chair."

That's professionalism that is.

I keep thinking of Bull Paxton in Aliens sceaming "We're all gonna die.."
ROTFLAO

Well...give her a break, would ya?

For the few that might extend less than professional aptitudes during emergency scenarios, there are hundreds of her peers that would have acted differently in similar situations.

Originally Posted by StrontiumDog

Terror at 27,000ft: Crew plug gap in super jumbo jet door with blankets and pillows stuck together with gaffer tape after it 'blows open' during the flight

• British tourist David Reid captures drama on Emirates Airbus A380 as he flew with his son from Bangkok to Hong Kong
• 'There was a huge blast... air was rushing into the cabin like a gale'
• Passengers wept and stewardess ran down aisle screaming
• Emirates spokesman denies their flight was ever 'in jeopardy'

By Tom Kelly

PUBLISHED: 22:10 GMT, 15 February 2013 | UPDATED: 10:39 GMT, 16 February 2013

A British tourist told yesterday of his flight of terror when he claims an emergency exit on a super jumbo blew open at 27,000ft.

David Reid and his son Lewis feared a bomb had gone off after hearing a ‘massive explosion’ two hours into their flight on the brand new £250million Emirates Airbus A380.

Freezing air blasted in and the cabin pressure plunged after the door in business class came an inch and a half ajar, leaving a gaping hole, said Mr Reid.


Fear: Blankets are stuffed by the passenger exit door, pictured bottom left, to fill a gaping hole while the green indicator light, ringed in red, shows the door is open as the Emirates Airbus A380 flew at 27,000 feet

THE PERILS OF CABIN PRESSURE

An open door on an aircraft is a serious emergency because it leads to a sudden loss of cabin pressure.

Oxygen levels inside an aeroplane have to be carefully controlled because the air in the atmosphere gets ‘thinner’ – it contains less and less oxygen – the higher you climb.

Cabins of planes cruising above 12,000ft are kept pressurised to mimic conditions at around 6,000ft and keep up the levels of oxygen.

A sudden rush of ‘thin air’ from outside can cause passengers and crew to experience ear and stomach pain, or even black out due to lack of oxygen.

Rob Hunter, of the British Airline Pilots’ Association, said: ‘For a door to open or for a significant gap to appear is extremely rare.’


As passengers wept in terror, he said, a petrified stewardess ran down the aisle and screamed ‘the door’s going to go’ before cowering behind her seat.

Astonishingly, according to Mr Reid, instead of making an emergency landing, the crew decided to stuff blankets and pillows stuck together with gaffer tape into the hole and continue the flight despite a horrendous droning noise and sub-zero temperatures.

The drama happened on Monday as the two Britons flew from Bangkok to Hong Kong as part of what was planned as a ‘trip of a lifetime’.

He said: ‘We were about two hours in when suddenly there was a huge blast.

‘It was a real shock, so loud that I thought a bomb might have gone off. Air was gushing into the cabin like a gale.

'The stewardess jumped up and stared at the door. Her face was drained white.

'She ran up the aisle, grabbed the intercom and started screaming, “The door’s going to go, the door’s going to go!” Then she hid under her chair.

‘Other passengers were crying and saying “We’re going to go down, we’re going to go down.”


Ordeal: The picture was taken by passengers David and Lewis Reid on their flight from Bangkok to Hong Kong

'It was complete panic. The emergency door was ajar and leaving a gaping hole. You could see straight out into the atmosphere, 27,000ft up.’

Mr Reid, who has a private pilot’s licence, said that after several moments of confusion, the cabin crew started grabbing blankets and pillows which they stuck together with duct tape to fill the gap.

He added: ‘This is a state-of-the-art plane but they were using the most crude method you could imagine to try and plug the hole.

‘The conditions were terrible for the rest of the flight. The door continued to make a horrendously loud droning sound which made it impossible to speak to each other.


Drama: Passengers heard a loud bang as their jet flew on Monday to Hong Kong from Bangkok


Safely landed: Crew are pictured inside the super jumbo airliner at Hong Kong after it flew in from Thailand with the passenger door partly opened


Ordeal: A relieved passenger checks his hand baggage on arrival in Hong Kong

'Worst of all, it was absolutely freezing. It was an extremely nerve-wracking experience for everybody.’

He said cabin crew closed the curtain between business class to stop those in the economy cabin below discovering what was happening.

Mr Reid claims he suffered a chest infection following the ordeal and the pair had to cut short their £4,500 trip.

His 18-year-old son reported the incident to the Department of Transport’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch who have passed it on to air investigators at the United Arab Emirates General Authority for Civil Aviation.

An Emirates spokesman said: ‘We can confirm there was a whistling noise emanating from one of the doors on the A380 upper deck on flight EK384 between Bangkok and Hong Kong on Monday, February 11. At no point was the safety of the flight in jeopardy.’

An Airbus spokesman said: ‘It is not possible for a cabin door to open on an A380 or on any aircraft whilst in flight, as doors open inwards and have locking mechanisms.’

Read more: My terror at 27,000ft: Jet door blew open and crew plugged gap with blankets, says Briton | Mail Online

Wot a load of bollox....Where do the DM get their facts from? I mean the bubble alone stating the door locking indicator is green for open instead of red for closed. That is an AIP panel. It has nothing to do with the door, it is always located in the vicinity of an interphone on any airbus aircraft. It gives the crew information such has PA in progress, Interphone caller ID, Call-Bell information and smoke in the toilet information. Essentially it is much like a caller display unit on a telephone. Nothing at all to do with the door. The Green light on the display is a good sign, only if it is red would you worry as that denotes a serious call or the smoke in the toilet alert.

What also beggars belief is that a flight attendant can actually fit under a seat more likely she was bending down to find an operating manual.

The tabloid press...never let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Its the daily mail, would you expect anything less?