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Senior Member
Registered: 07-03-07
Posts: 930
Posted   Hide PostEdit or Delete MessageReport This Post  
Almost entirely gibberish.

Try reading some of the earlier posts.

Yet again we have someone who claims to be intimate with planes who gets completely the wrong answers. Amazing.
Member
Registered: 03-25-08
Posts: 18
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This thread will never end, but here is another try from practical experience.

Rapid decompressions on aircraft happen. Unless caused by structural failure "fatal" to the aircraft, they are survivable.

Aircraft are frequently flown with doors and hatches opened or removed. No one gets sucked out.

Rapid loss of pressure involves the volume of air escaping rapidly. Once the inside and outside pressure are equalized, the blowing stops. Nothing is sucked out, it is blown out. Possibly, some of the younger set are confused by popular street slang?

Pressurized aircraft do suffer structural failures that lead to rapid decompression; Aloha airlines incident being the the most dramatic. Windows fail, panels or doors fly open and cause other structural damage. The nine people that departed the DC-10 was caused by an improperly secured cargo door, which opening outward, peeling up structures above it exposing the passenger compartment, damaging the floor structure, and allowing seats to depart. Were some contents blown out? Sure. Did the sucking or blowing continue? No.

Have you ever experienced a rapid decompression? We experienced one in the altitude chamber at a relatively safe altitude of about 20,000 feet. Big whoosh, lungs involuntarily expel air, and the air turns to a fog.

Large holes can allow objects to be blown out. If they are not tied down and near the opening, they can be carried out. Our Coast Guard C130 experienced a gearbox failure causing the case to fail allowing half the gearbox and propeller to strike the side of the aircraft. 2-3 foot by six foot gash. Whoosh, the hanging coat bags and two survival sleds stowed below the hole departed the aircraft. Once the whoosh stopped, nothing else was "sucked" out of the aircraft. People walked about and there was no dramatic music heard. BTW the failure happened at 21,000 feet.

Another thing about hatches. We have three overhead escape hatches on the C130. Removing the flight station hatch will help remove smoke and fumes either from fire or poor aircrew diets. There is some venturi effect, but not enough to pull you through the hatch.
Junior Member
Registered: 05-18-08
Posts: 1
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I think I would have to go along with others about the venturi effect. Just putting a hole in a fuselage sitting still doesn't duplicate real world conditions. A 400mph wind blowing across that hole will create quite a vacuum force. You also have to consider that an airframe in flight is under a great deal more stress than one resting on the ground.
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