The New Zealand man who attempted to open an emergency door on a Malaysia Airlines flight this week would have needed superhuman strength to pull it off, according to former flight attendant Bobby Laurie.
Speaking to Ryan Bridge and Michele A'Court on Radio Live this afternoon, Lawry said opening a door midflight is "virtually impossible".
"They're designed not to open in-flight because of the pressurisation and the door design itself. In order for the door to go outward, it actually needs to come in first," he said.
Host Ryan Bridge asked Lawry if it was possible the man thought the emergency exit was the entrance to the bathroom.
"You'd be surprised at how many people can't work out how to open the toilet door. There's usually a big sign saying 'lavatory'."
Lawry says keeping drunken mid-air behaviour under control can be difficult.
Despite cabin crew being able to keep an eye on a passenger's alcohol intake, they can't totally monitor how much someone drinks.
"What did they have in the airport before they got on the airplane? That's the unknown. Five beers and a glass of something else on a 12 hour flight isn't unheard of, but crew don't know what has been consumed before that."
Alcohol can also make someone drunk faster, due to the thinner air at altitude.
"That five probably felt like nine or ten," he said.
Lawry has witnessed many types of drunken behavior during his career, from those who fall asleep straight away to those who become aggressive. But there's one passenger he will never forget.
"I've even had a passenger who was ordering drinks for her stuffed animals, the mini's kept disappearing and she was feeding it to them. She was pouring it into the stuffed animal's mouth."
Lawry said when he asked the passenger why she was giving alcohol to her teddy bear; her response was priceless.
"I didn't want it anymore but I paid for first class so I'm going to use the free alcohol so I'm giving it to my teddy," the passenger explained to Lawry.
"He was literally dripping Jack and Coke," Lawry said.
Newshub.
