How come if a window is smashed out on an airplane it will cause a disaster but other planes can open doors with no problem.

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Was on a flight the other day and remembered as a kid being worried the window would break and everyone would get thrown out of the plane, but went sky diving and half the plane was open with no issue. What’s the difference?

In: Physics

8 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Well first, a window breaking on a plane won’t necessarily be a disaster, and if *definitely* won’t suck everyone out of the plane. Most commercial planes fly at altitudes where there’s not enough air for people to breath, so the planes have to be pressurized, meaning the air pressure inside the plane is higher than the air outside. If there’s a breach in the fuselage, such as a broken window, all the air will rush out. Smaller planes like ones used for skydiving don’t fly that high and so aren’t pressurized. The air inside the plane is always equal to the pressure outside, so there’s no problem opening the door.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I think it’s due to the altitude the plane flies at. You are comparing a commercial jet that flies at 35k – 40k feet versus a Cessna that’s used for skydiving flies way, way below that. The pressure difference inside vs outside a commercial flight at 40k feet is a lot higher. The higher your altitude, the less pressure outside the plane there is. When the doors of a commercial jet close, the cabin gets pressurized with the same air pressure as the ground. Due to the pressure difference, you’d have stuff getting sucked out at 40k feet.

Anonymous 0 Comments

I’m no expert, but I believe it has something to do with altitude and air pressure. Commercial airliners fly much higher and the air is much thinner. Passengers would have a difficult time breathing if the plane was opened somewhere. The inside of the cabin is also pressurised to make it comfortable for the passengers and feel like the same air pressure they would feel on the ground. If you smashed out a window, the pressure on the inside tries to equalize with that on the outside and that’s why (in the movies) people get sucked out. Not sure if it works that way in real life, tho. Sky diving planes fly at a low enough altitude, they don’t have to have the cabin pressurised. The air might be a little thin, but not horribly so.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Altitude

You’re talking a difference of 4-5 miles (skydiving typically occurs around 10k-13k ft, airline flying @ 37k). Humans top out at breathable air pressure in the 12-14k area I believe, depending on constitution. The air further up is MUCH thinner, enough to create a tumultuous vacuum, let alone be breathable.

Anonymous 0 Comments

Speed and altitude. Skydiving aircraft fly significantly lower and slower than your turbofan jet. Turbofan aircraft cruise primarily between 30,000 and 39,000 at around .78 mach or so.

Your average skydiving altitude is less than half of 30,000 and the speed is around 90 knots or so? I’m not a skydiving pilot, just a CFI so these are my best guesses at numbers.

Primarily the main difference is the pressure at 37,000 vs the pressure at say 12,000 feet. Maybe a skydiving pilot can answer more in depth than I can.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The difference is the height the plane is flying at, I believe. A plane you would skydive from flies much lower and the air is dense enough to breathe. Airline passenger planes fly much higher and are required to have a pressurised atmosphere inside the plane to maintain the required oxygen for the passengers. If a window were to smash then the air would rush out very quickly and you would need the masks to breathe, however the movies showing people getting sucked out of the plane are exaggerating a myth.

Anonymous 0 Comments

What you see in movies as the “disaster”, that explosion is because in commercial flight, the airplane is pressurized, like a balloon, so if you puncture it, all the air wants to come out, creating all that chaos. The airplane is pressurized because it’s flying very very fast and at very high altitude, so that helps maintaining oxigen levels and temperature inside. In smaller aircraft, which flies slower and lower, that’s not such a problem so it’s possible to have an “open” environment inside the airplane, much like a car.

Btw, it’s not an actual disaster if a plane loses pressure, they just have to go to a lower altitude and as long as the pilots have oxigen masks while at dangerous levels, it should be fine.

Anonymous 0 Comments

The difference is altitude. If you open a door when the plane is high, the air pressure in the plane is much higher than the air pressure outside, and a great gust of wind sucks things out the hole. Once the pressure is equalized, at the height a commercial airliner flies, the passengers would suffocate (which is why the plane is pressurized). Lower, neither of these issues is as big a problem.