A passenger on United flight 788 from Indianapolis to Houston tried to open an aircraft door while taxiing after landing on around 6:30 p.m. on Sunday. The attempt failed – but it triggered an emergency slide on the Boeing 737-800.
Houston Police took the passenger into custody after a medical evaluation at a hospital. Passengers were bused to the terminal.
It’s unclear which door the passenger attempted to open. Airline doors are held shut by pressure differential. Attempts mid‑flight are physically impossible. But on the ground this does, while the door would have been armed, this pressure constraint not hold.
According to United Airlines,
United flight 788 landed safely and local law enforcement officials met the aircraft to address a disruptive passenger. Customers were transported by bus to the terminal. Please contact law enforcement with any additional questions.
Generally it’s not possible to open the door when the compartment differential pressure is above ~2 pounds per square inch. On approach, landing, and taxi, the difference in pressure is driven toward near‑zero, so the doors can be opened.
On a Boeing 737, the maximum allowed pressure differential at takeoff and landing is ~0.125 psi (essentially unpressurized). After touchdown there’s no pressure “lock.” That’s why opening an armed door on taxi will fire a slide.
Two years ago, an Asiana passenger opened an exit door 800 feet from landing and this was possible because the pressure differential was very low that late in the descent.
Door of Asiana Airlines plane opens in mid-air just before landing in South Korea; 9 people taken to hospital with breathing difficulties pic.twitter.com/rUI6LTRihj
— BNO News (@BNONews) May 26, 2023
Police detained a 33-year-old man on suspicions of pulling the door lever on a Asiana A-321 from Jeju – Daegu 👀
pic.twitter.com/WaAAnkQIBT— Thenewarea51 (@thenewarea51) May 26, 2023
About a minute before landing, the left aft-wing emergency door L3 on Asiana flight #OZ8124 was opened. The inflatable chute – housed below the door – deployed and was ripped off in the airstream. https://t.co/0q4mwO9GYv
A321 L3 door operation: https://t.co/LRhQL4In7d pic.twitter.com/WsAfvPVGGV— JACDEC (@JacdecNew) May 26, 2023
The plane’s slides are armed from pushback through landing. They’re disarmed at the gate. Open an armed door on taxi, and the slide deploys by design. Opening them during taxi will always make a mess – not just the slide deployment, but evacuation hazards on an active taxiway. Here’s the FAA ops bulletins on arming timing and Airbus’s notice on preventing inadvertent slide deployments.
Slide deployments are also expensive.
- Base repair / repacking cost runs about $12,000
- Testing, inspection, and component replacement (if there is some damage) might add $5,000 – $20,000 on top
- And delays could add another $10,000 – $30,000 for 2-4 hours.
United Airlines in Houston
This past spring an emergency exit slide detached from a Delta flight as it took off from New York JFK and the year before one ‘exploded’ inside a Delta Boeing 767 after the plane had diverted to Salt Lake City.
Here’s an emergency slide off of a United flight that fell from the sky into a man’s back yard. In 2019 an evacuation slide fell from a Delta flight as it landed in Boston.
It’s not yet clear what motivate the United passenger in Houston, so I choose to think of it as an homage to JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater who grabbed a beer from the galley, popped the aircraft slide, and made a dramatic exit from his aviation career.
I’d’ve gone with ‘inflated,’ but, I suppose, for hyperbole, ‘exploded’ is fine, too. SLAMS!
Send a bill to the man. If he doesn’t pay get a judgement and attach his wages.
Hey people, leave the guy alone. He had a tight connection.
The flight attendant’s pre-flight safety briefing should include the following instructions: Please remain seated with your seatbelt fastened until the aircraft has arrived at the gate and come to a complete stop. Passengers should not deploy the aircraft’s inflatable evacuation slides, as a ramp worker might squish you in their moving tug. Inadvertent slide deployments will also delay the departure of our next flight.
Obviously auditioning for the $30 an hour emergency slide testing job from the prior post. Wheeeeee!
@Peter — Wheeee!
Sir, Mame, do you feel emotionally and physically well enough to fly today? I could open a medical questionnaire service for the airlines (for before they book their flight).
Mental illness or not, people need to be held accountable for their actions. I’ll bet that would show down a lot of these so-called outbursts and crisises.
“But on the ground this does, while the door would have been armed, this pressure constraint not hold.” This sentence is not written in English.
@Trickywars — Uh, they do hold people accountable… “Houston Police took the passenger into custody after a medical evaluation at a hospital.” Do you think folks that open the emergency doors just go home? I’d imagine, no-fly list, banned from the airline, charged criminally, and civilly to recoup damages, etc. We just rarely hear about all those details of the aftermath.