Why it's physically impossible to open an airplane door mid-flight

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00:00This is episode 123 of The Twilight Zone, Nightmare at 20,000 Feet.

00:07Arguably one of the most iconic episodes of the show ever made, it stars William Shatner

00:12as a portrait of a frightened man, Mr. Robert Wilson.

00:16Bob sees a gremlin on the wing of the plane and decides the only possible solution to

00:20the problem is to steal the air marshal's gun, open the emergency exit, and shoot the

00:25thing.

00:26Clearly, this scene is complete fantasy, and I'm not talking about the gremlin.

00:35There are a couple of reasons why you can't open an airplane door mid-flight.

00:39The first being, it's locked.

00:41But there's another big factor that The Twilight Zone seems to ignore, and that's physics.

00:47Let's consult our first completely reliable source, the episode's IMDb goofs page.

00:54It says the plane Shatner's flying in is either a twin-engined Convair or a four-engined

00:59Douglas DC-6 or DC-7, all of which would have been pressurized.

01:06The higher a plane flies, the lower the air pressure outside, and the lower the air pressure,

01:11the harder it is to breathe.

01:12That's because the air is thinner the higher you go.

01:15The molecules are literally farther apart.

01:18So there are fewer oxygen molecules in every breath you breathe, and less pressure diffusing

01:23that oxygen into your bloodstream.

01:25Over 18,000 feet above sea level, and our bodies just aren't able to absorb enough to keep

01:31us functioning.

01:32That's why planes are pressurized to mimic conditions about 8,000 feet above sea level.

01:37It's a nice middle ground that lowers the oxygen in our blood by only about 4%, which

01:42is not enough to really affect how we function.

01:45Modern airlines fly at about 36,000 feet above sea level.

01:49If they weren't pressurized, it would cause delirium in seconds and knock you out in under

01:53a minute.

01:55And the difference between the inside of the plane and the outside can be huge.

02:00Which is exactly where the doors come in.

02:02Inside the cabin, 8 pounds of pressure push against every square inch of surface area.

02:08The typical passenger door is about 6 feet tall by 3.5 feet wide.

02:13So we're looking at more than 24,000 pounds of pressure bearing down on that exit.

02:18The strongest man alive can deadlift only 1,102 pounds.

02:23But wait, you scream at your computer screen.

02:26This nightmare was at 20,000 feet, not 36,000.

02:30The pressure would be lower.

02:32You're right.

02:33But there's no need to yell.

02:35Keep your voice down.

02:36I'm sorry.

02:37I'm sorry.

02:38The pressure would be lower, but still too much for a person to overcome.

02:42Even William Shatner.

02:45And the door flying out into the inky black?

02:48Practically impossible on a modern plane.

02:50Most passenger doors are tapered, the inner edge being wider than the outer.

02:55It's called a plug door, and it basically acts like a bathtub drain stopper, corking

02:59the hole without falling through.

03:01But what if someone on your plane had Shatner's superhuman strength?

03:07It could cause something called explosive decompression.

03:09And it's the one thing the Twilight Zone got mostly right.

03:14During an Aloha Airlines flight in 1988, a piece of the fuselage tore loose at 24,000 feet.

03:20Leaving blue sky where the first class ceiling had been, according to the captain.

03:25The chief flight attendant was instantly sucked out of the plane through that gaping hole.

03:30Explosive decompression happens infrequently, but it does happen.

03:34A rip in the plane wall, a window cracks, it doesn't matter the cause.

03:39The huge pressure difference creates a vacuum capable of shooting anything up to a thousand

03:44pounds out into the sky.

03:46And that vacuum effect would last until the pressure inside the cabin matched the pressure

03:50outside.

03:52So Shatner made a good call buckling himself in before opening that emergency exit.

03:56If you don't live in the Twilight Zone, your chances of pulling open an airplane door

04:01mid-flight are just as good as seeing a gremlin on the wing.

04:06So the next time you start getting nervous about it, just remind yourself...

04:09I'm going to be alright.

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