Not necessarily.  Northern California has had some early winter weather
fronts coming through for the past few days, causing rain, wind and the
like.  The Otter series planes are not the most comfortable ride in perfect
weather and the shift of the plane caused by the momentary asymmetrical
airflow could easily have been interpreted as hitting an air pocket or a
simple gust of wind.  The door being opened would have only made the people
in the plane yawn to equalize a sudden shift in air pressure on their ear
drums, but may not have been otherwise noticable if the others were seated
forward of the exit (a common practice for takeoffs, in smaller planes).

----- Original Message -----
From: "Otterbein, Gerald L." <[log in to unmask]>
To: "'Russ Smith'" <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, December 15, 2000 11:42 AM
Subject: RE: tough way to go


> It seems to me, that the second the door was cracked open the other 4
> passengers would have been well aware of what was going on, and made a mad
> scramble to restrain the woman. Also the additional drag created by the
> asymmetrical airflow across the aircraft from the open door, would have
> alerted the pilot in an instant.
>
> Jerry Otterbein
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Russ Smith [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Friday, December 15, 2000 2:36 PM
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: tough way to go
>
>
> Gavin, Neil, et al,
>
> The incident was covered in our local news last night.  My thoughts on it
> were mixed.  The Otter series are used frequently (without seats, of
course)
> at sport parachuting drop zones, and that use forms the majority of my
> experience with the aircraft, thought I have taken flights on them when
> visiting my sister in rural Arkansas (excuse the redundency).
>
> The initial reports that were given lead me to believe the passenger's
> "exit" was intentional.  This is just speculation, but the fact that the
> plane seats 15, and there were only 5 on board suggests that she need not
> have been sitting in the exit aisle.  Since after the crewman came by,
moved
> her in order to access and lock the door, and took off again, she still
> decided to sit so close to the exit, one has to wonder.
>
> Further, the plane is not pressurized.  If the door were completely
opened,
> she would have been pushed into the cabin by the air force, and every
other
> passenger would have had their belongings tossed about, in a way that
would
> have  been noticable.  To exit a plane in flight, you JUMP out, or PUSH
> yourself out into the air using your arms on the door frame as a catapult.
> By design the airflow around a plane is resistant (think of the "air
doors"
> used in restaurants to keep flies out).  If however, she wanted to do so,
> she could have unlocked and opened the door, then exited, allowing the air
> pressure to reclose the door, though it no longer would have been locked,
> triggerring the pilots warning light.
>
> I doubt this was an accident, though further information may prove me
wrong;
> and this is all based on the assumption that she was actually on the plane
> when it took off.
>
> Rs~
> Russ Smith, Systems Consultant
> Problem Solved, Vacaville, CA
> r s m i t h @ c u - h e l p . c o m
> h p 3 k - l @ e - 3 0 0 0 . n e t
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Gavin Scott" <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Friday, December 15, 2000 10:42 AM
> Subject: Re: [HP3000-L] tough way to go
>
>
> > Neil writes:
> > > The perils of traveling in Silicon Valley. This is really
> > > a bizarre story and truly sad.
> > >
> > > http://www.technews.com/news/00/159452.html
> >
> > The details in the Mercury News are a bit different.
> >
> > http://www0.mercurycenter.com/breaking/docs/AA114360.htm
> >
> > They say that the door opened shortly after takeoff, after which they
> landed
> > and closed it, then enroute from there to SJC the door opened again, at
> > which point the copilot walked back and closed it.  It's not clear at
what
> > point the victim departed aircraft, or whether the other passengers were
> > aware of what happened.
> >
> > IIRC the Otter is not a pressurized aircraft, so the phrase "sucked out"
> > should not be applicable in this case.  Generally in pressurized
aircraft,
> > it's not possible to open an emergency exit in flight because all the
exit
> > doors and windows open "in" and are held in place by the air pressure
> > differential.
> >
> > In an unpressurized aircraft a seated passenger should be in little
danger
> > from suddenly opening exits, especially with one's seat belt fastened.
> >
> > G.
> >
>