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by free2023 896 days ago
Yes I see, that makes good sense. Given the course of events, it's still a fair question from a design standpoint: Can this be engineered with a reversible option to switch it from functional to non-functional, depending on the seat configuration?

It just seems like a lot of complexity and moving parts, for a feature that's not in use.
2 comments
arrakeenrevived 896 days ago
> Can this be engineered with a reversible option to switch it from functional to non-functional, depending on the seat configuration?

That's exactly how it's engineered right now, though.

This same design has been used for decades and apparently without problem, so it's probably just a case of someone designed it this way originally, and nobody thought to fix what wasn't (at the time) broken.

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fredoralive 896 days ago
Yes, there are two options for that space if you don't need a door there, one which fits most of the door mechanism (bolted shut) and hides it behind a solid wall, and an option that fits a plug with a normal sized window[1], which needs more effort to convert to a working door. Alaska choose the latter.

[1] This can still be swung out for inspection / maintenance, but has no normal latching mechanism, and should be bolted in place.

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