You'd be surprised how often people get sucked from a plane. No really, it happens a lot. Well quite a lot. I don't know why this topic crossed my mind, but it did, and piqued my interest enough to do some Internet research ... so not extensive, but enough to fill a blog post.
Perhaps the most famous of these events was Aloha Airlines flight 243 from Honolulu from Hilo on April 28, 1988. The 19 year old Boeing 737 was flying at about 24,000 feet when the ceiling above the passengers, just aft of the entrance door, suddenly and explosively ripped off, leaving the passenger section exposed to the skies for about one quarter the length of the airplane.
The casualty of this disaster was flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing, who was immediately sucked out the hole and disappeared, along with the section of passenger cabin roof. Amazingly, the other 90 passengers and 4 crew members all survived, because all of them except the unlucky Ms Lansing were belted in, which prevented more fatalities, although 65 of them were injured. Also incredibly, the jet was able to descend to make an emergency landing on Maui.
Perhaps the most famous of these events was Aloha Airlines flight 243 from Honolulu from Hilo on April 28, 1988. The 19 year old Boeing 737 was flying at about 24,000 feet when the ceiling above the passengers, just aft of the entrance door, suddenly and explosively ripped off, leaving the passenger section exposed to the skies for about one quarter the length of the airplane.
Aloha Airlines flight 243 .... After Landing. |
The casualty of this disaster was flight attendant Clarabelle Lansing, who was immediately sucked out the hole and disappeared, along with the section of passenger cabin roof. Amazingly, the other 90 passengers and 4 crew members all survived, because all of them except the unlucky Ms Lansing were belted in, which prevented more fatalities, although 65 of them were injured. Also incredibly, the jet was able to descend to make an emergency landing on Maui.