Two very different door design solutions – which is the best? That depends on the feature(s) you value the most.
Boeing and Airbus came up with two very different door design approaches so that passengers could both enter and leave the aircraft on the ground AND sustain pressurization loads of something like 8 psid (typical cabin differential pressurization loads during cruise).
These loads are not trivial – I’m guessing that a typical cabin door is something like 12-15 square feet in area which translates into an applied load of something like 15,000#! Think about that the next time you’re standing around next to one while waiting to use the lavatory…
I love engineering because there’s no such thing as a perfect design, just the best design based on all the factors we need to consider and their relative importance.
Author – Steven Gentles
