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by Animats 900 days ago
It's not a plug door. It's an outward-opening door, apparently. [1] Usually, those things are plugs, and have to be pulled inward to open them, which is not possible when the cabin is pressurized. But there are B-737 configurations where it's an outward-opening door. For those, when there's a door installed, there's a single solenoid to prevent opening it in flight.[2] Is there some kind of dummy door that's installed if that location is not set up as an exit?

I'd thought that outward-opening doors on passenger aircraft had gone away after the DC-10 disasters with them.[3] Apparently not.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFNU0cc29OQ

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zyxy3naQh0

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Airlines_Flight_96

3 comments

The Turkish airlines crash was even worse. And it happened almost two years later after the FAA was fine with a gentlemen's agreement instead of an airworthiness directive.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turkish_Airlines_Flight_981

For anyone that doesnt know, McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing.

r/merged/lobotomized
This was the (regular) rear door that Alaska effectively papers over.
Even if that is the case, it shouldnt been an issue. The DC10 problem was due to insufficient safety mechanism that allowed for crew to unknowingly close the door without engaging the safety lock.
Here's the safety mechanism for this door.[1]

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zyxy3naQh0

Prevent manual opening in flight, if that's the actual mechanism. That torque tube still has to be forcefully rotated to open.