the hypothesis of changing the structure of the jet or adding a hostess – Corriere.it

Aviation safety experts in Europe and the US are closely watching the investigation in South Korea into the Airbus A321 after a passenger opened one of the emergency exits while the plane was still in flight. So much so that more than someone does not exclude there need for a structural or procedural change on the aircraft to be introduced on a global scale. The learns it Courier from sources familiar with internal regulatory agency discussions. Among the hypotheses – should it become necessary – there are the addition of a flight attendant on board and the “rethinking” of the doors.

The story

On May 26, a man – later arrested – opened the door of the Asiana Airlines flight to Daegu while it was at an altitude of 213 meters while landing at 277 kilometers per hour. On board the aircraft, an Airbus A321, there were 194 passengers and 6 crew members. Twelve people were hospitalized with injuries judged to be minor and the twin-engine jet touched down the runway regularly.

The reactions of the pilots

In the hours following the accident, as reported, several A321 pilots, in addition to highlighting their astonishment at the opening of a hatch that everyone judged to be unopenable during flight, wondered if that gesture had highlighted a structural vulnerability of the aircraft. The exit involved in the accident is the third on the left, located behind the wing. “We are investigating the circumstances of this incident,” he says Courier an Airbus spokesman. And he adds that “usually the doors of the planes can only be opened upon landing”.

Stop selling

As a precaution, Asiana and its subsidiaries Air Seoul and Air Busan no longer sell the seat next to the emergency exit. The South Korean carrier communicates in a note that no one will be able to sit in seat 26A of 11 A321s configured with 174 seats, while in the other 3 A321s with 195 seats the blocked seat is 31A. “This ban will also apply in the event of full flights,” he explains. Other carriers in the country, Jin Air and Air Premia, could make the same decision.

The “sealed” doors

Dozens of people try to open the tailgate every year in different parts of the world. But they can’t because the events usually occur when the aircraft is at high altitude: the pressure difference that is created between the interior (where it is high) and the external environment (where it is low) “seals” the exit that cannot be opened wide even by applying the force of multiple passengers.

To the track

But this time with the Asiana flight this did not happen. Also because at that altitude – 213 meters in fact – according to the pilots consulted “the pressurization is practically zero and the force of the wind is reduced”. «There is an actuator that helps the door to open when it is “armed”, i.e. placed in automatic or emergency mode by the flight attendants». In this case “the push against the wind mechanically seems to have helped to keep it open”.

Regulatory agencies

Interviewed by Courier by the FAA, the US federal aviation agency, prefer not to respond and invite you to contact the European Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) which authorized the A321. “We are in contact with Airbus, the Korean authorities and the operator Asiana to understand the circumstances that led to this event,” an EASA spokeswoman confirmed by email. “Based on preliminary information, we have not identified any design non-compliance or door systems failure to date.”

“We await the investigation”

For this we will have to wait for the work of the investigators. “The ongoing investigation will determine the possible existence of serious airworthiness problems that could require a strengthening of the aircraft design and/or related operating procedures”, underlines the EASA spokeswoman. “Depending on the outcome, we will decide whether further action needs to be taken. We currently have no indications of an increased safety risk.”

Without supervision

So far Airbus has delivered 1,791 A321s of the «ceo» model, the older and the one involved in the accident in South Korea and different from the more modern A321 «neo» version. An analysis shows that there are several dozen A321s in the world configured in the same or very similar way to those of Asiana. Those who are aware of the internal discussions explain to the Courier that there is a common problem with several low cost and traditional airlines in Europe as well. The open hatch is usually not “manned”: in the center of the fuselage there is a single cabin attendant who sits on the other side (right), while there are two attendants in each of the front and rear exits. Not only. In Asiana’s configuration, not even the other hatch sees the presence of a flight crew where there are also two toilets which further hinder any blocking operations for the dangerous passenger.

The possible solutions

All the experts and pilots repeat that we have to wait for the outcome of the investigations to have an idea of ​​what really happened. But at the end of the work of the investigators, the sending of a security bulletin linked precisely to the episode in South Korea cannot be excluded. Among the options there are the obligation of two flight attendants also in the center of the cabin — which will lead to higher costs for carriers — or a structural modification to the emergency doors.

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