[Swissdiver]

https://www.flightradar24.com/blog/asiana-open-door/

How absurd! Is it also possible on Boeings?

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Bullfrog

[AMcWhirter]

It was an Airbus aircraft. Presumably at low altitude on approach.

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Bullfrog

[cwoodward]

What concerns me somewhat is that the passenger wasn’t stopped by the crew prior to getting the door open.
It is difficult to open an aircraft door in flight and they should be electronically locked shut (overriding the monarchical closures) once the aircraft is ready to depart the stand.

The below is a quote from a current A350-1000 captain

‘The eight cabin doors on the A350-1000 are controlled by the crew member assigned to them and “cross-checked” by the opposite crew member. The arming instructions come from the FSM (Flight Service Manager) when we begin our pushback. The call to disarm the doors comes from the PM (Pilot Monitoring) as we turn onto our parking stand.”

It seems that here the FSM and crew released the doors while the aircraft was on final approach- an incredible, stupid and dangerous act that reflects badly on the airline
OR the safety system was not operational in which case the aircraft should not have been allowed off of the ground.

Ether way I wont be rushing to fly with Asiana – not that I ever have

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DerekVH, tomwjsimpson, Swissdiver, AMcWhirter, CathayLoyalist2, Woodpecker, Bullfrog

[JCoathup]

cwoodward wrote:

What concerns me somewhat is that the passenger wasn’t stopped by the crew prior to getting the door open.
It is difficult to open an aircraft door in flight and they should be electronically locked shut (overriding the monarchical closures) once the aircraft is ready to depart the stand.

The below is a quote from a current A350-1000 captain

‘The eight cabin doors on the A350-1000 are controlled by the crew member assigned to them and “cross-checked” by the opposite crew member. The arming instructions come from the FSM (Flight Service Manager) when we begin our pushback. The call to disarm the doors comes from the PM (Pilot Monitoring) as we turn onto our parking stand.”

It seems that here the FSM and crew released the doors while the aircraft was on final approach- an incredible, stupid and dangerous act that reflects badly on the airline
OR the safety system was not operational in which case the aircraft should not have been allowed off of the ground.

Ether way I wont be rushing to fly with Asiana – not that I ever have

Felt the need to correct/counter a few points from your post.

I don’t know about newer aircraft, but the A320 family does not have an electronic lock that overrides the mechanical lock on exit doors. The issue with this would be who would activate/deactivate the electronic lock. If the cabin crew deem the situation dangerous enough to warrant an evacuation, they can initiate the evacuation themselves. Whilst they would communicate with the flight deck if the aircraft was moving on the ground (to get the flight crew to stop the aircraft), if the aircraft was already at a standstill, calling the flight crew to electronically unlock the doors takes valuable seconds that could be the difference between life and death.

Your quote from the A350 Captain is correct, but maybe misunderstood slightly. The arming/disarming of doors has nothing to do with whether or not the doors can be opened, but simply whether the escape slide is armed. The cabin crew on this particular flight didn’t disarm the doors whilst the aircraft was still airborne as you can see from the footage that the escape slide did deploy.

On wide body aircraft such as the A350, one cabin crew will be stationed at each emergency exit, however on a narrow body such as the A321, one cabin crew can cover both “pairs” of doors – i.e. on both the left and right hand side of the aircraft. The cabin crew seat on these doors is on the right hand side of the aircraft and as such the crew member responsible for this set of doors would have been on the opposite side of the cabin from the passenger responsible and depending on what actually happened didn’t have time to intervene.

Whilst an unfortunate situation and distressing for all involved, it hardly warrants avoiding the airline altogether because of it.

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GivingupBA

[cwoodward]

I believe that your first point is incorrect Joathup.
It is of course possible that the system is optional and not fitted to this aircraft – I dont have that information.
I also disagree with your second point or at least those that I have asked and know better than I do.

Each to their own but I on the facts as given to me I would avoid the airline

[cwoodward]

Joathup’s post re the door opening mechanism on the A320 was correct. My information and post was incorrect.
My apologies to all.

[AMcWhirter]

Several media report today that Asiana is not now selling emergency exit row seats on its A321s.

A statement from Asiana nd and quoted by CNN said, “This measure is a safety precaution and applies even if the flight is full.”

[Author]

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