# Opening an exit door in mid-flight

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-an-exit-door-in-mid-flight/372534>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [September 13, 2006, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-an-exit-door-in-mid-flight/372534 "2006-09-13T13:18:45Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\
**Post date:** [September 14, 2006, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/opening-an-exit-door-in-mid-flight/372534/21 "2006-09-14T01:45:13Z")

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[QUOTE=JRDelirious]  
Right, it doesn’t open, but someone futzing about with the mechanisms while in flight can damage something that may cause trouble later on, e.g. render the door inoperable or damage the emergency chute.  
[/QUOTE]

I doubt it, and **alanak** ’s link tends to back that up (along with a the DB Cooper answer)

> [@](#):
>
> For good measure, cabin doors are held secure by a series of electrical or mechanical latches, or both. So, while I wouldn’t recommend it unless you enjoy being pummeled and placed in a chokehold by panicked passengers who don’t know better, a person could conceivably sit there all day tugging on a door handle to his or her heart’s content. The door is not going to open – though you might get a red light flashing in the cockpit, causing the captain to spill his Diet Coke.
> 
> (If you’re wondering about the infamous D.B. Cooper, he ordered the crew to depressurize the cabin, then parachuted out the rear tail-cone exit, which on the old Boeing 727 did not include an in-flight lock.)

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