Some Advice: Please Do Not Open The Emergency Exit And Walk On The Wing Of The Aircraft
Here's a little advice for all you impatient people out there. We know its really annoying when you're towards the middle of the plane and have to wait for all the stupid, slow people in front of you to pick up their crap and get off the plane — but don't think that you can just open the emergency exit and walk around on the wing of the plane.
That's what one mad at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport did — and now he's in police custody:
[Police spokesman Sgt. Tommy] Thompson says the flight taxied into the gate at Sky Harbor Terminal 3. As people were getting off the plane, the man opened an emergency door and walked out on the plane's wing. Police and federal authorities questioned the man. Thompson says charges are pending.
Man arrested after exiting plane, walking on wing [AZ Central]
(Photo:JohnKit)
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I've often thought about doing that. Then I come to my senses and realize that I enjoy my freedom.
Classic Phoenix. Doesn't surprise me one bit.
Hm. Good safety tip. I'll have to remember that next time I fly...
(Who the heck would even think of something like this?!)
Well, besides the fact that the wing is what, 20 feet off the ground, it's a bad idea for many other reasons. Though it is a great reason to bust out some Twilight Zone "Terror at 20000 feet" clips!
Maybe he thought he landed in the Hudson.
I must admit I've been tempted to try that stunt once or twice. Never actually looney enough to do it, but...
@homerjay wants Boston Legal back!: Because you may damage the flaps or the emergency door, because you may fall off and damage yourself, and because the airline and airport are going to have to go through a metric ton of bureaucracy that's going to slow down its processing of all the things passengers care about like flying and transferring luggage.
Idiot.
Everyone knows the exits at the back of the plane have the cool inflatable slides...
Lets look at the bright side...at least he didn't decide to break open a window and wriggle out through that!
Also, at what point did he realize that he was in fact walking on a wing??!!
Yeah...what the hell IS up with all the slow moving people??? It shouldn't take 15 minutes to get off of a damned plane.
//rant off
More reason Stupidty should be a crime. Or petty offense at the least.
You know how some airlines board people that need extra time first (small children, handicaps, etc..). I'm all for seating these people in the back of the plane. It's this same group that takes 10 minutes to de-board the plane.
@floraposte: Don't forget that the next flight and all flights for the day using that plane will most likely be canceled.
@Mr.B-Natural_GitEmSteveDave: Remember the days when what was potentially happening outside of the plane was the concern? Now it's like: screaming children, the smell of muted McDonald's, the sickening chorus of people all placing "I've landed come and pick me up" calls all it once. Point being, a monster on the wing would be a welcomed distraction.
@dogmaratt: Agreed, it takes 15 minutes to get off a plane when it lands on the runway but only about 90 seconds when it lands in the Hudson?
I suppose he should have known better but . . . . If I were to take a bus somewhere, and in my impatience opened one of the emergency windows and hoppped out, would I be arrested? Probably not. I'd have several people rather cross with me, but in the end I would have had to cause damage for it to be worth anyone's time to pursue it further.
I still don't understand why airlines are blanketed by so many layers of regulation. Buses, trains and subways could be just as deadly in the event of an accident or attack, and none of them have terms of service as strict (or penalties as harsh) as an airline. What gives?
yeah, I've noticed that too. I think the more people carry on, the long it takes. Then you get people that have like 5 items throughout different areas of the plane, and instead of them sitting and waiting for everyone else that already has their act together...they jump out into the isle and begin their scavenger hunt while we wait.
Also old people.
Front of plane: People with 1-2 carryons and aged 16-55.
Middle: People with 3+ carryons or aged 55-67 and people with one child.
Rear: People 67+, handicap, 2+ children.
@exconsumer9: Yeah, you probably would for utilizing emergency equipment when no emergency existed. I know on trains opening/removing any of the emergency tools(axe, crowbar, etc) is a crime. Also, by doing that, you damaged the bus, so you would get nailed for destruction of private/government property.
@exconsumer9: Cmon, for serious? If you opened an emergency window on a bus and hopped out, you'd be standing ... on a curb or in a parking lot. If you opened the emergency door over a plane wing and hopped out, you'd be standing ... 20 or more feet off the ground, in the direct vicinity of a possibly still operating jet engine, above a tarmac crisscrossed by thousand-ton pieces of machinery ... need I go on? Clearly we're talking MUCH, MUCH bigger liability issues at stake for everyone involved, and the penalties for acting stupid in such a situation obviously SHOULD be much higher.
@dogmaratt: I have always wondered why they don't have a disembarking type mode for "de-planing".
Like, first class goes first (of course) then those with no carry on items, those with children, etc.
Enforcing it would be hard, but it would be worthwhile I think.
@Detective Bunk: Unfortunately, I'm the easiest troll-bait on the Internet. Wanna join my anti-bonsai kitten telethon?
@dogmaratt: If that's 90 passengers, that's 10 seconds per person. Not too shabby, really, considering the pulling together of carryons and coats. Faster than anybody leaves a party, that's for sure.
@exconsumer9: If you do this on a bus, you do not damage the bus. If you do this on a plane, you may damage the control surfaces on the wing. Those are kind of important to things like being able to steer the plane.
As for the level of regulation, a slightly malfunctioning ground vehicle is still safely serviceable. In most cases, the worst that will happen is you break down and sit roadside waiting for a rescue. The equivalent mechanical failure in an aircraft is potentially lethal, unless you happen to be lucky enough to land in the Hudson river.
@HungryTuna: +1!
I was on a flight from Chicago to Wichita just before Thanksgiving one time. There were 15 wheelchairs and various other groups of elderly people in various states of decrepitude. The line for people who needed special assistance boarding was longer than the other line. And all those people were seated in the front of the plane.
On landing, all the ones who didn't need an actual wheelchair tried to get off the plane - it took forever. For. Ever. Then the rest of them were sitting up front waiting for assistance and we all had to run the gauntlet of people who wanted to talk to us, ask us where we were going, ask every kid their name and how old they were and tell the kid's parents about their own grandchildren, etc. etc.
The flight was fine, but it was the worst boarding/unloading I've ever been through.
@exconsumer9: I would say yes, because you can't just pop the window back in, so the whole rest of that operating day for that particular bus would be lost - there would be an investigation and most likely you would at least be detained for questioning.
@exconsumer9: Also, everyone knows that planes and airports are just packed with potential terrorists. They're the only places that you can be a terrorist you know, so responses to such dastardly acts must be swift and strict.
I know that common courtesy is essentially dead, but, when I am waiting to get off a plane, almost always someone stops and lets me into the aisle ahead of them. It takes 5 seconds to be nice to someone but the impression it leaves lasts forever.
OK, what was this guy's plan? To leap from the wing of the plane?
Why on earth would he be arrested for it? I can see not being allowed to fly anymore, but to be in police custody for it? That's just stupid.
He is probably the same kind of person that cant wait until the aircraft comes to a complete stop before unbuckling their seatbelt, turning on and making calls with their cellphone and ignoring repeated instruction to sit back down, buckle up and wait.
Whats the big deal with a couple more minutes?
I might have someplace I need to be too, but I know that being impatient and anxious will only add to an already stressful situation.
Maybe he saw a Gremlin on the wing and was trying to get it off?
@Hyre:
I know there is an innuendo here, I am just stuck on how to point it out in an amusing way.
Something like, the guy now has a gremlin fetish?
@Curves: I always trip someone walking by, then step over him before he can get up. Less than 5 seconds, impression still lasts and lasts.
Maybe he was drunk. Maybe.
We always hear stories about people being trapped on planes for hours and hours without water or food. Has anyone ever tried opening the Emergency Exit in these cases?
@Oranges w/ Cheese: There are tons of buses in Chicago that run with those emergency windows open -- they swing open and then bang closed every time the bus takes a corner.
I was once on a bus in Salt Lake where a man wanted the driver to let him off while the bus was stopped in the left-hand-turn lane. He swore at the driver, told him he was going to kill him, and when the driver still refused to let him off, he ran to the back of the bus and jumped out an emergency window. That's not a short drop, necessarily, although nowhere near as high as an airplane wing!
@everybody: I certainly understand everyone, but let's say for argument's sake you could pop open the window without damaging anything, and it could be popped back in. Regardless of whether or not an emergency existed, I think the onus would be on the owner of the bus to prove that you caused damages or posed an imminent danger to someone in a civil suit. Public trans is a different story, I know, very strict, but even then, once notified, I doubt that you'd be at the top of the list for any law enforcement that day.
Yes, you could damage the equipment, but I don't think it's made of glass (pilots would just walking on the wing compromise the plane?).
Anyway, my main point is that, in most people's minds, whether or not this man caused any actual damage or posed an actual safety threat is completely irrelevant. But if someone were to jump out of the window of my house or car, or my plane on my private runway, the onus would be on me to prove that this person actually damaged something or put someone in danger.
I feel that this man's primary crime was violating the airline's personal sense of propriety, not that he created a threat to their equipment or safety.
Wait, was that wrong of me to open the emergency door and walk on the wing? Really? See, if someone told me that I would not have done it. Sorry.
George "cantstandya" Costanza
Mark my words if I am ever on one of those flights that sits on the runway/gate for 4-5 hours, you will be reading about me here when I break open that door and sprint down the runway screaming in a mad panic.
@exconsumer9: pilots would just walking on the wing compromise the plane?
Yes, unlikely, but yes. - Even if he kept to the safe areas of the wing to walk on, the plane would still have to be retired for the day since no one would know for sure if he stayed on the safe areas and a mechanic would have to examine everything or face the wrath of the FAA and Homeland Security. So there is a huge money loss right there.
Well now that we know that we can, why not??