AIRCRAFT DOORS

REQUIREMENTS
It is required that:

There be provided a means to prevent inadvertent opening of the doors

during flight.
Each external door must be operable from both inside and outside by a rapid
and obvious method.
Doors which open outwards initially, must have provision for direct visual
inspection of the locking mechanism to ensure that they are fully locked.
An indicator must be provided in the control cabin to indicate to the crew that
the passenger doors are closed and locked.

UNPRESSURISED AIRCRAFT
On unpressurised aircraft most external doors open outwards. This is mainly
because an inward opening door takes up fuselage space as it opens.
PRESSURISED AIRCRAFT
The effect of differential pressure must be considered. The load that it applies tends
to open an outward opening door but keeps an inward opening door firmly closed .
DOOR CONSTRUCTION
The entrance door of a pressurised aircraft usually consists of a strong framework of
aluminium alloy to which is riveted a heavy outer skin formed to the contour of the
fuselage. At the top and bottom edges of the door are hinged gates. These make it
possible to decrease the height of the door so that it can be swung outward through
the door opening.
For safety in a pressurised aircraft, the door is usually designed to act as a plug for
the door opening. The cabin pressure seats the door firmly in place.
Another type of entrance door is a vertical retracting door. This type of door stays
inside the aircraft during operation and does not require the complex motions
associated with a typical hinged door. When operated the door slides into the
overhead area of the cabin, providing clear access for entering and leaving the
aircraft.
Doors usually incorporate escape slides and automatic deployment mechanisms.
The doors for the larger wide bodied aircraft may be provided with high pressure gas
bottle power sources or electrical motors to provide assistance for door opening due
to their weight. Doors must be capable of being opened from both inside and
outside the aircraft. The locking mechanism usually relies upon the over centre or
geometric lock principle to ensure that the mechanism is positively locked and can
only be unlocked by the door operating handle or lever.
Door locking mechanisms may consist of a number of drive pins which move out
from the door into receptacles in the door surround when the door handle is placed
in the locked position. On outward opening doors, the drive pin receptacles have

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windows which allow the locking mechanism to be visually checked to ensure that
the door is properly closed.
Some entrance doors have the door handle connected to upper and lower torque
shafts which have latch rollers at each end. When the door handle is operated to
open the door, the four latch rollers disengage from the cam tracks on the door frame
allowing the door to be pulled inwards.
The upper and lower torque shafts also operate the upper and lower gates which
shorten the door and allow it to be pushed outwards to open the door.
Door stops transmit cabin pressure loads from the door to the door frame on the
fuselage structure.

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VERTICAL RETRACTING DOOR

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Many aircraft are equipped with doors incorporating stairs. These doors are
designed as one-piece or two-piece doors. The one piece door illustrated is hinged
at the bottom. When the door is unlatched, it pivots outward and downward to
become a stair for entering and leaving the aircraft. Two piece versions of this door
is found on both pressurised and unpressurised aircraft.

A ONE-PIECE STAIR-DOOR

The passenger door of a typical unpressurised aircraft is often rectangular with

rounded corners. It has an outer skin and is internally braced with vertical and
horizontal members. It is normally hinged along its forward edge. A locking
mechanism having an overcentre design is held in the open and closed positions by

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a springpot. Adjustable striker plates on the door coaming at each latch position
ensure that the door is firmly held in the closed position and flush with the fuselage.
One of the latches usually operates a microswitch which illuminates a
locked/unlocked warning light in the control cabin.
A telescopic strut normally holds the door in the open position. Often the strut can
be unlocked by rotation of the strut sleeve.
A tubular rubber seal fitted around the edge of the door provides a waterproof seal
when the door is closed. On some aircraft the door seal is inflated when the door is
closed to reduce noise in the cabin. On pressurised aircraft the door seals are
always inflatable to prevent loss of cabin pressure.
The internal surface of the door is covered by a furnishing panel which matches the
aircraft interior finish.
INTERNAL DOORS
These give access between separate compartments and are frequently of light
weight construction. Where such doors form the only exit from a compartment, they
may be designed to collapse easily if they jam shut following an accident.
A lockable door must be provided between the crew compartment and the passenger
compartment.

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MAIN ENTRY DOOR MECHANISM

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ENTRANCE DOORS

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PASSENGER DOOR OF A TYPICAL UNPRESSURISED AIRCRAFT

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BAGGAGE AND CARGO COMPARTMENT DOORS

The design features of doors or hatches in this category depend largely upon
whether or not the area in which they are situated is pressurised. In modern
passenger carrying aircraft, these areas usually are pressurised, therefore the doors
or hatches need to meet most of the requirements previously discussed. Although
such doors are only required for the loading of baggage or cargo, the method of
opening or closing is kept relatively simple to reduce the possibility of errors by
ground handling staff.
The larger cargo area doors, such as the example shown will usually be electrically
operated, being controlled from an adjacent control panel in the fuselage structure.
MANUAL DRIVE
A manual drive mechanism is installed to allow the door to be opened in the event of
a failure in the electrical system. Each electric actuator has a manual drive port into
which a tool can be inserted to rotate the actuator manually.
STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY
As with passenger doors and escape hatches, cargo doors are required to maintain
the structural integrity of the fuselage when closed. Their structure, operating
mechanisms, and in particular their latches, are so designed that pressurisation
loads are transferred to the surrounding fuselage structure via the latch pins or
claws.

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POWERED CARGO COMPARTMENT DOOR

Cabin pressure leaks can cause severe disturbance to the smooth flow of air along
the fuselage. This increases drag, especially if the leaks are near the front end of
the fuselage.
DOOR ALIGNMENT CHECKS
Apart from obvious functioning checks on the doors and their associated systems, it
is usual to measure the clearance between the door and the fuselage surround, to
see that it is within limits. In addition, on high speed aircraft, into wind and out of
wind checks are made. These ascertain that the alignment between the door outer
skin and the fuselage skin is correct. If the door is into wind it is protruding beyond
the fuselage skin whilst an out of wind condition is the reverse.
DOOR SEALS
All doors are fitted with seals to prevent loss of cabin pressure.
Various sealing methods may be employed but the more commonly used include a
simple flat section rubber seal which separates the pressurised area from ambient
pressure, and a one piece P section inflatable rubber seal. In both cases differential
pressure forces the seal against the door frame.
The P section seal has a series of perforations incorporated along its length and
these allow cabin pressure to be felt inside the seal. The outer edge of the seal is in
contact with the door frame and ambient pressure, and therefore tends to inflate
whenever a pressure differential exists. The greater the pressure differential, the
greater the effectiveness of the seal.
The main entrance doors are used frequently by both passengers and maintenance
staff. Consequently the seals in these areas are more likely to suffer damage which
will have an adverse effect upon their sealing abilities. It is therefore important to
ensure that all pressurised area seals are inspected frequently and replaced if

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10

damaged, as not only will cabin pressure be allowed to escape, it will invariably
create noise when doing so, much to the annoyance of passengers in the vicinity.
DOOR INDICATIONS AND WARNINGS
These will vary from aircraft to aircraft but will usually include the following:

Mechanically operated locked or unlocked indicators at each door. The

indicators usually comprise a coloured disc or flag which can be viewed from
both the inside and outside surfaces of the door. Handle position may also
function as lock indication.
Electrically operated locked or unlocked indicators operated by
microswitches or electronic sensors in the door mechanism. The switches or
sensors will illuminate warning lights to indicate that the door is unlocked.
These lights are usually situated on the flight deck and may also be displayed
on a flight attendants panel located near the main entrances.
Some aircraft have door locked or unlocked indications shown on the
EICAS or ECAM. Proximity sensors are provided at each door. These
produce signals which are transmitted to warning lights on a panel and to the
EICAS or ECAM.
Warning systems may include an aural warning to the flight crew of a door
unlocked situation.

NOTE
In the interests of safety, knowledge of the opening and closing
sequences of a particular door is essential. Unless operated in the correce
sequence, initiation of the door opening sequence could cause the in advertent
deployment of an emergency escape slide and/or the operation of built in
powered airstairs.

PRESSURISED CABIN DOOR SEAL

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DOOR WARNING SYSTEM

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12

SECTION 4 : EMERGENCY ESCAPE HATCHES

Although main entrance doors are used in an emergency, additional doors or hatches
are often also provided. Escape hatches which are situated adjacent to the wings are
designed to be completely removed from their frames. They may then be placed either
inside the cabin or outside on the wing dependent on the escape procedure for each
particular aircraft.
Emergency exit doors may be provided at other locations in the cabin. They are hinged
at the lower edge and incorporate an escape slide. They may be fitted with a pressure
relief door which opens inwards to relieve residual cabin pressure when the door is
opened.
As with the main entrance doors, escape hatches can be opened from either within the
cabin or from outside. They also incorporate hollow seals inflated by cabin pressure.
The overwing emergency escape hatch illustrated is a typical example.
If the flight crew compartment is separated from the passenger cabin by a door that is
likely to block the crews escape in an accident, there must be an exit in the crew
compartment..

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OPERATION
The hatch is normally opened from inside the aircraft by opening a moulded cover and
pulling down a handle. This operates a torque tube against a spring load. This in turn
causes latch rollers to disengage from latch fittings and allows the hatch to move inward
at the top edge. Holding the upper handle, the lower handhold is grasped with the free
hand and the hatch pulled inward at the top edge, disengaging the lower pivot fitting
from the lower pivot hooks. Using both hands the hatch is lifted upwards and inwards
away from the opening.
The hatch is opened from outside the aircraft by pushing in a flush panel on the outside
of the hatch and then pushing the hatch inwards. An assistant should be inside the
cabin to receive the hatch to avoid damage.
Provision is made for opening hatches and doors without deploying the escape slide
during maintenance operations.
Electrically operated locked or unlocked indicators operated by microswitches or
electronic sensors in the door mechanism are provided. The switches or sensors will
illuminate warning lights to indicate that the door is unlocked. These lights are usually
situated on the flight deck and may also be displayed on a flight attendants panel
located near the main entrances.
Some aircraft have these indications shown on the EICAS or ECAM.

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EMERGENCY ESCAPE HATCH

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TYPICAL EMERGENCY EXIT HATCH ON PRESSURISED AIRCRAFT

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EMERGENCY EXIT DOOR

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UNPRESSURISED AIRCRAFT ESCAPE HATCHES

A typical escape hatch fitted to an unpressurised aircraft is illustrated.
The hatch is hinged about its rearmost edge and opens outwards. A locking mechanism
mounted on the forward edge is operated by both internal and external handles. An
adjustable striker plate on the hatch frame at each latch position ensures that the hatch
fits flush with the fuselage when the latches are engaged. The upper latch operates a
microswitch which illuminates a red light on the pilots instrument panel should a hatch
not be properly closed. The operating handles are retained in the open or closed
position by an over centre mechanism.
The external skin is shaped to match the fuselage contour and has rounded corners. It
is strengthened around the inside edge with a top hat section. Stiffeners are added
across the hatch width. A window is usually provided in the hatch. A rubber weather
seal is mounted in a retainer strip attached to the top hat section around the periphery
of the hatch.
A stay is provided to hold the hatch open when in use for maintenance purposes. The
internal surface is covered by a furnishing panel which matches the aircraft interior
finish.

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ACCESS PANELS AND HATCHES

If located within the pressurised area, panels or hatches used for gaining entry to areas
for servicing or maintenance activities will be of a similar design to emergency escape
hatches. They will invariably be of the inward opening plug type design to reduce the
possibility of their being lost through pressurisation loads. Most will also be linked to the
door unsafe electrical indication system. If not, they may have a mechanical means of
ensuring their proper closure and be included in the pilots pre-flight check list for
inspection.

TYPICAL ACCESS HATCH

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notes:

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