WIRED Science: Space, Health, Biotech, and More

Physics Explains Why You Can’t Open a Plane Door in the Air

WIRED Science: Space, Health, Biotech, and More

It’s the nightmare of travelers sitting near the emergency exit and the inevitable fate of bad guys tussling on a plane with James Bond—the door erupting open mid-flight, sucking them into the cold blue and white. This scenario was no doubt running through the minds of the passengers of a BA flight to Riyadh this week, when a man, reportedly in the grip of a panic attack, tried to pull open the aircraft door.

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