Snapperhead
Well-known member
- Joined
- Nov 28, 2001
- Posts
- 177
What's the most terrifying thing that has ever happened to you in an airplane?
My most scary — and daring — feat occurred when a faulty door blew open in a pressurized light-twin plane I was flying in Alaska.
I was strapped in, of course. But everything else was sucked out of the plane, including a briefcase with my logbook in it. The briefcase was soft and wrapped itself around a wing strut (the metal bar attached from the body of the airplane to the outer part of the wing).
Because all the records of my flight time were in that log — and I had to have it if I ever was to get another flying job — I wasn't going to let it get away. So during flight, I crawled outside the aircraft and onto the strut to get it. I was alone and without an autopilot feature, but the airplane remained stable and mostly on course and altitude.
Don't worry about this happening to you on a larger, commercial flight. Those aircraft have plug-type doors. That is, the door is larger than the opening (it must be maneuvered upwards inside the airplane or sideways to open it normally when the aircraft is not pressurized). When the aircraft pressurizes, it seals itself so it can't be opened, or blown open, during flight.
My most scary — and daring — feat occurred when a faulty door blew open in a pressurized light-twin plane I was flying in Alaska.
I was strapped in, of course. But everything else was sucked out of the plane, including a briefcase with my logbook in it. The briefcase was soft and wrapped itself around a wing strut (the metal bar attached from the body of the airplane to the outer part of the wing).
Because all the records of my flight time were in that log — and I had to have it if I ever was to get another flying job — I wasn't going to let it get away. So during flight, I crawled outside the aircraft and onto the strut to get it. I was alone and without an autopilot feature, but the airplane remained stable and mostly on course and altitude.
Don't worry about this happening to you on a larger, commercial flight. Those aircraft have plug-type doors. That is, the door is larger than the opening (it must be maneuvered upwards inside the airplane or sideways to open it normally when the aircraft is not pressurized). When the aircraft pressurizes, it seals itself so it can't be opened, or blown open, during flight.
