Watch a Plane’s Door Rip Open During a Horrifying Commercial Flight

• Assemblers on an old Russian-built Antonov AN-26 recently experienced a terrifying incident after the rear door malfunctioned and opened in mid-flight.
• Small pieces of food were sucked up in the frigid temperatures below freezing.
• Because of the design of airplanes and the pressure in the cabin, the possibility of a door opening during flight on a modern aircraft is impossible without causing harm.

OK, it generally isn’t a great sign when the rear door to your commercial airliner rips open during a flight filled with passengers. It starts sucking out small items, which recently happened on a Soviet-era Antonov AN-26 traveling between two small Russian cities.

But it could’ve turned out much worse: No one was seriously injured. The flight was taking off at the time of the incident, so the pressure shift wasn’t risky, and the majority of people don’t travel in an old plane built in the 70s and 80s. The chance of this happening on any of your future flights is minimal.

Just after taking off from the Russian commercial flight, a “loud pop” resulted in the back door to the AN-26 opening to let out bags and hats. Thankfully, no male passenger on the side of the plane had just loosened his belt and could hold on and remain in the cabin, causing the plane to return immediately to Magan in the Siberian region despite temperatures of -41 degrees Celsius.

• Airport Worker Ingested Into Jet Engine, Dies

One passenger captured footage during the 15 minutes that passed from the moment the door opened to the emergency landing, revealing the frigid, air-sucking, wind-sucking flight. Check out the video in the video below. By way of the Sun:

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Hear it from a terrified male passenger:

“A man seated near the back of the plane was almost being blown over. He had just removed his belt. He was about to be to be blown off his plane.”

Due to the aging and well-known manufacturing techniques used by the Antonov A-26 aircraft, It is possible to rest assured that the door you will be using on the next flight will not be able to open. A few elements present on modern-day flights, such as the curvature of doors that act as a plug to the plane, the mechanical lock that prevents doors from opening, and the pressure in the cabin that hinders their space at the time of flight.

The older designs of airplanes didn’t have lock locks that were specially designed, specifically for rear doors or designs that prevented doors in the rear from opening even in pressured situations due to their position at the end of the plane that was not surrounded by resistance from outside.

The latest Russian flight experienced a malfunction shortly after takeoff. However, the cabin pressure rises–airplane cabin pressure can reach the force of 8,000 feet above sea level, and we’re not physically injured by the thin air and low oxygen levels once we get to our preferred cruising altitude. It could reach more than 1000 pounds for each square inch in pressure to a door to the cabin and ensure that the door stays locked even if mechanical locks are turned off.

The most tragic instance of a gap opening in mid-flight occurred on one Aloha Airlines flight in 1988, the year that a portion of the plane’s fuselage was ripped open part that was on the roof of the airplane at 24,000 feet. This was followed by an immediate pressure change from the flight attendant into the hole.

The vacuum effect only diminishes if there is a pressure in the plane similar to outside pressure.

TIM NEWCOMB

Tim Newcomb is a journalist based within his home in the Pacific Northwest. He writes about stadiums and sneakers, equipment infrastructure, and other topics for publications such as Popular Mechanics. Some of his most famous interviews include discussions with Roger Federer in Switzerland, Kobe Bryant in Los Angeles, and Tinker Hatfield from Portland.