Video: Door of plane carrying 3 NFL players blows open at 6,000 feet
posted at 2:30 pm on May 20, 2007 by Ian
Jacksonville Jaguars’ running back Fred Taylor said this about the traumatic event:
“We were leaving a safari in a single-propeller, 15-seat passenger plane when the door just came open. I thought that was it. I started praying. The runway was about two miles away, but it seemed like it took 10 to 15 minutes,” he said.










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everyone looked panicked ;)
lorien1973 on May 20, 2007 at 2:36 PM
Talk about scary. This is a RonPaulMoonbat attacking Michelle Malkin as a “propagandist”
Scary part is he votes.
William Amos on May 20, 2007 at 2:47 PM
Can you say drama queens?
Neo on May 20, 2007 at 2:47 PM
At 6000 feet the plane wouldn’t be pressurized, so the door probably just came unlatched. There was nothing to worry about and no danger to the passengers as long as they stayed in their seats. A little scary, sure, but no reason the plane wouldn’t have made it to the runway. :-)
KSgop on May 20, 2007 at 2:48 PM
Sorry but if I had been in that plane I would be changing my screen name to ‘Charmin’.
Limerick on May 20, 2007 at 2:52 PM
Too bad Keith Olberman didn’t get sucked out.
Sorry, couldn’t help it.
Buck Turgidson on May 20, 2007 at 2:57 PM
Ha. They were the very picture of calm compared to what it would have been like had I been on the plane. I hate flying if everything goes right.
I’m sure these guys emptied the drink cart when the plane was on the ground.
Slublog on May 20, 2007 at 2:59 PM
I’m not surprised. Once your in the third world, MRO in the airline industry is hit and miss.
Zorro on May 20, 2007 at 3:01 PM
At the risk of acknowledging Olberman another time more than he deserves, Olberman would probably have tied this into a rant against George W. Bush, Michelle Malkin, the United States Government, the Military, Christians, Pro-lifers, and so on.
He is like a foaming at the mouth rabid dog. He cannot help himself.
A fitting nickname for him would be “One Note Johnny.”
William
William2006 on May 20, 2007 at 3:03 PM
As they were saying at the end of the tape, they should praise the Lord they were not at altitude when it happened. Remember what happened to Payne Stewart and his ghost plane.
Mallard T. Drake on May 20, 2007 at 3:13 PM
He then would have asked out another washed up porn star and gotten shot down.
Tim Burton on May 20, 2007 at 3:41 PM
No problem.
I’ve used the doors of a 152 to steer with*. It’s fun.
*do not try this at home.
mesablue on May 20, 2007 at 3:58 PM
Well, the animal rights wackadoodles will surely have something to say about this.
csdeven on May 20, 2007 at 4:12 PM
C’mon, I hate the sewage coming out of Doberman’s mouth as much as anyone, but I don’t wish him dead.
About what’s best to wear on this flight, boxers or briefs, my answer is: Depends.
stonemeister on May 20, 2007 at 4:24 PM
– Talk about scary. This is a RonPaulMoonbat attacking Michelle Malkin as a “propagandist”
– Too bad Keith Olberman didn’t get sucked out. Sorry, couldn’t help it.
What on earth do Ron Paul or Keith Olberman have to do with a door coming off a plane in Africa? I find the need to inject petty and unfunny political jibes into absolutely anything and everything you–the collective you– see to be quite frightening. I’ve pretty much written off the HotAir comments as a place to find intelligent conservative thought–it reads more like Kos or something nowdays–but geez.
Also “RonPaulMoonbat”, “Doberman”, “John Scary”, etc… yeaahh… not funny and certainly not sophisticated.
DaveS on May 20, 2007 at 4:59 PM
If you want humor click on my link to see the level of intelligence of the Ron Paul supporter.
Else get a humor transplant.
William Amos on May 20, 2007 at 5:02 PM
I’m not saying this wouldn’t be scary, but after watching Mythbusters, I’m confident that the old “everything getting sucked out of the plane” fear is nothing but a myth.
RightWinged on May 20, 2007 at 5:21 PM
Please take my word for this. This is no big deal. I know everyone has a bit of a phobia about flying, but in an unpressurized aircraft, unless the door completely fell off and hit a control surface badly enough to damaged it and cause a decrease in control, there is nothing to really worry about. 6000 feet is nothing.
Pressurized aircraft at high altitude, big deal. Unpressurized aircraft at low altitude, scary maybe but no big deal.
mojotrain on May 20, 2007 at 6:02 PM
Thanks for the Laugh ☺
abinitioadinfinitum on May 20, 2007 at 6:38 PM
I don’t speak for Hot Air as a whole. Sorry you didn’t like my joke. Guess you had to be there.
Buck Turgidson on May 20, 2007 at 6:59 PM
The story had absolutely nothing to do with Keith Olberman.
DaveS on May 20, 2007 at 7:21 PM
William Amos…
About what’s best to wear on this flight, boxers or briefs, my answer is: Depends.
Now THAT is funny. Injecting an unhealthy obsession with and need to turn everything to politics is NOT funny.
DaveS on May 20, 2007 at 7:23 PM
mojotrain Please take my word for this. This is no big deal.
Agreed… the door coming open is, certainly, no big deal. However, you can’t fault someone for taking what appears to be the plane falling apart in mid-air as a big deal. If they intentionally opened the door, that would be one thing… but they didn’t. As far as they knew, it could just as easily have been the bolts holding on the wings that went next.
DaveS on May 20, 2007 at 7:25 PM
Well, they also tried to say that gravity was a proven fact until the Ninja from Ask a Ninja straightend them out!
- The Cat
MirCat on May 20, 2007 at 7:54 PM
Hey, this really did happen to me years ago on a plane that took off from Miami. We were at altitude and the seal broke on the door, it was pretty loud! The captain came on and told us what had happened and that we’d be landing in Orlando to transfer to a different plane. He said not to worry but the flight attendants did look a bit nervous.
4shoes on May 20, 2007 at 7:59 PM
I liked what Taylor said about Africa and America:
And it’s not surprising that many of you seem to know more about small aircraft behavior than an NFL player does. However, it is rather condescending to riducule their relatively subdued reaction to the incident. He’s a football player, not a pilot.
Let’s see one of you bust through the hole in a goal-line stand attempt. No, I couldn’t do it either.
baldilocks on May 20, 2007 at 8:29 PM
I know that at that altitude a door opening is no big deal. I know that WWII pilots would fly with their canopies open. I also know if I was on that plane I’d probably be changing my undies.
As George Carlin once said, “First you say it, then you do it.”
wolfva on May 21, 2007 at 8:33 AM
Forgot how sweet it sounds to be flying along with the door open. Now I’ll be daydreaming about jumping instead of working for the rest of the day.
Jose Chupacabra on May 21, 2007 at 11:46 AM