MD-88 tailcone air stairs deployment
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 10 ก.ย. 2010
- Interior view of retracted air stairs (partially hidden by extended catwalk). At the end of the catwalk, is the slide pack (yellow rectangular shape), and beyond that is the interior of the tailcone (which, in an evacuation, would be jettisoned). Just beyond the slide pack, to the right, at hip level (and unfortunately, from the camera angle, hidden from view), is the manual tail cone release handle.
As the air stairs are lowered by ramp personnel(controls are on the outside of aircraft), the catwalk simultaneously retracts into the ceiling. The last three steps should unfold automatically, but on occasion, may require an "assist" from someone on the ground. Those additional steps were added to the stairs for the MD-80 series aircraft, due to the fuselage being higher off the ground than that of a DC-9. This came about from the main landing gears re-design to be slightly longer (I believe it may only be a foot increase), than those on the DC-9. This additional height was required when the fuselage was stretched, so there would be no issues with tail strikes during take off rotation. - บันเทิง
Hi! I’m planning for a video on ventral stairs. I would love to use a bit of this video to explain it. Let me know if that’s not ok.
Didn’t expect to find you here
Please do! If add credits to your vidoes, thow my name in there. Thanks.
I enjoy your channel very much. As a flight attendant, I have learned a lot from your channel. I also have footage of the tail cone of the B717. I can upload that soon as well.
@@Shrimpo7 thank you so much! You have been credited!
@@MentourPilot hi never expected to see ya here
okay
Remember doing repairs on them MD-80 stairs and walkways in Shannon Aerospace over 20 years ago. Brings back mems.
It was soo cool to walk in and out of the DC-9/MD-80's from these rear stairs. Man I miss these jets...
I agree, I did that once while in flight, back in the early '70s, and it was an unforgettable experience. Paid reasonably well too.
@@NoGoodHandlesComingToMind nice to finally meet you, D.B. Cooper
I flew on it several times in the early 1990s. Pilots told me they like the plane because it was actually slightly faster than the 737. I was surprised that some MD80s had built in stairs so they didn't need an expensive staircase on a pickup chassis like a lot of airlines use today.
i love it back then before tiktok or yt shorts, everyone just took landscape setting for video recording... 🥰
I remember this was very common sight in various Italian airports. We’d regularly disembark from tail if we were sitting in the back in those type of aircrafts. As recent as 2017 I did that when I flew into Cagliari, Sardinia.
To clarify I’m not sure if the aircraft I was in was a MD-80 or some other type with similar tailcone stairs like B717.
@4rnweekwewm
The standard MD-80 series (MD-80 all the way up to MD-90) have internal controls to lower the airstairs (similar to the B-727). Delta had elected to have that deleted during initial manufacture. It simplified maintenance, and was in line with the operation of airstairs only being operated by ramp personnel policy regarding the 727.
The panel may be found on the right hand side. You can see the airstair light indicator illuminating (0:39), when airstairs unlock.
Hawaiian Airlines had these drop down air stair doors on all their DC-9s and MD-80s. Aloha Airlines had these type of air stair doors on their BAC One-Elevens.
@JetMechMA I stand corrected. You are absolutely right (as far as the 727 airstairs, don't know about the DC-9 and all it's variants). It is known colloquially as the DB Cooper lock. I was thinking about opening the cabin door to the tailcone area during flight. Thanks for pointing that out.
Cheers!
The 727-200 and prior (100, 100c) have a rear exit. The air intake (for the #2 engine) is just above the stairway.
As does the Sud Aviation Caravelle.
I'm inclined to believe that after the DB Cooper hijacking these airstairs.. (have been told they're now often called "Cooper ladders")..have been redesigned, or modified so that they will not extend while the plane is in flight. As I understand it, Cooper had ordered the crew to keep the 727 under 10,000ft altitude, the airspeed under 100 knots, and not retract the landing gear: that should have told them what he intended to do. There is an episode of the TV series "Quincy" that featured a "what if" episode of the DB Cooper hijacking,called "The
Money Plague"
I can't speak for Southern Airways, but I do know that back in the 60's and 70's, a lot of the airports that served small and medium sized cities did not have jetways, so I would imagine that the aft air stairs were used often. I believe (not sure about this) that the retractable stairs under the forward entry door was an optional feature, that was very common to see on most DC-9s.
Harold Betancourt You're right Harold: the forward boarding stairs were an option on the DC-9 and MD-80 series. They were useful if no jetway existed. Having said that they were maintenance intensive and heavy so many airlines removed them from their DC-9 fleet in particular. They were harder to remove from the MD-80 series because of center of gravity issues, but many airlines deactivated them to save on maintenance costs.
Aw man I miss that classic hum of the MDs electronics
nice video!
DB Cooper must be slobbering all over this -- assuming he survived that parachute jump! 🤣
Air stairs are regularly deployed on the DC-9/MD-80 series as well as the Boeing 727s while waiting at the gate. This is because the stairs also serve as a kickstand of sorts. A completely empty aircraft would be slightly tail heavy because of the engines being mounted in the rear. The air stairs help to keep the aircraft level on the tarmac so that proper cargo balancing can be done.
bt25 It's not weight bearing on the DC-9/MD-80/90 series, but what you say is correct about the B-727.
I work regularly as part of the ground crew for Delta and we don't do that at all.
@Shrimpo7
No, the pressure of the the cabin is pressing against that door, making it impossible to budge it.
Interestingly, only the Yak-40 and Yak-42 in the former Soviet Union had built-in air stairs. You'd think they would have been standard on the Tu-134 and Tu-154, given the sparse facilities at many Soviet-era airports.
What airports can I see DL MD-88 air stairs in action? Do you know of any airports that board this way?
Caleb Myers no airport anymore
@@ABIAviation we had to bring them down yesterday for cabin cleaning at the remote parking
Allegiant airlines used this way at the Punta Gorda, FL airport as well as other small airports. I think they have 737 now so this is no longer used.
Because the cone at the back is detachable so if the rear chute was to be deployed you could get to it
@hotelgulf718
Most passengers complain about having to sit in that last row; however, there are some who actually prefer to sit there. It may be hard to believe, but.... despite the higher noise level, that area is more conducive to sleep. Passengers with babies (and yes, even adults) fall asleep faster in that area. Maybe the engine noise drowns out conversation and other annoying ambient noise. Don't know for sure, just relaying what I have observed at work.
The only thing I hate when seated on the last row of MD-80s is, the engine cowling blocked my window view 😁 But that's not happened with MD-90s 😁
Anyway, thanks for sharing this vid. I have wondered for a long time, how's the mechanism of aft staircase of MD-80s. Compare this with DC-10s door mechanism, all I can say Douglas Aircrafts was a rock 🤟
thats awesome
Magnificent
when I was in Honolulu like 1/2 the MD-80's of Hawaii airlines had the air stairs deployed while waiting
727 also used to have a posterior stairway to get into the plane. May be you never fflew in to one of them, but when I flew in many of them since de 1970's(that was before the concourse existed). And in many aiports the only way to get into the aircraft was that.
Wow, last time I boarded a plane thru those was on an Iberia flight back in '99 or so. Too bad the graceful deployment here was interrupted by some ***hole from the ground crew who found it necessary to slam the damn thing into the ground! I wonder what the purpose of the upper section is that rotates into the ceiling -- counterweight?
The upper part that retracts into the ceiling is actually the gangway to the tail emergency exit. You do not deploy the stairs, but blow off the tailcone exposing a hole. An emergency slide then blows out. You walk the EXIT to the end, where you step out the hole and jump down the tail slide.
@heil08
This is on Delta.
awesome video!! it looks like a opening door from an alien ship, just a coment, not sarcasm
@wizzair1313
Allowed? No. The only way that can be done is if the cabin is depressurised during flight, and that would only be done in certain emergency situations.
Cool video !!
It's on Delta.
They should still have them on modern planes
it's so cool!
Don’t md-80’s also have emergency slides in the tailcone?
Yes they do. The slide pack is located at the very end of the catwalk. It is bright yellow.
Airplane door stairs.
@Shrimpo7 is that catwalk design on the 727-100? if so how much space is behind it? I'm wondering if Cooper was hiding in there and didn't jump at all? just a hunch.
alumitech007 my thoughts exactly!!
alumitech007 There is no catwalk on the B-727, just stairs.
now airplane door stairs.
0:53 RIP Stairs Because The Ground Crew Rudely Open The Airstairs
I thought the tail cone would jettison and a slide would deploy? Maybe it's different for each aircraft.
Another thing: I know some MD-80's (with AA or Delta for example) have modified tail cones for improved efficiency. Do those have rear stairs or a slide as well?
Tail cone jettisons and slide does deploy when the tail cone exit is in "armed" mode. That is for emergency operation. What the video shows is the exit "disarmed." That is for normal operation, when said exit is used for airline personnel or passengers to enter/exit aircraft.
Thanks for the reply. Does the staircase or emergency cone jettison work for the modified tail cones?
Yes. The shape of the trailing edge of the tailcone is the only change. The interface with the rest of the airframe didn't change.
@@Shrimpo7No arming on these planes. There's two handles. In this video at 0:03, the jumpseat backrest has been swung up to access the normal handle, which opens the door without popping the slides. The emergency exit handle above this opens the door and deploys the slide. It's not the greatest design as it leads to mistakes.
D.B. Cooper loves these things. Apparently with the cabin depressurized these can be deployed in flight. See the jet plane skydiving clip. Which is either a 727 or md 80 which is just a rebadged/remodled dc9.
So were is the APU?
The MD-80 doesn't have one.
Scott Shamblin ah ok.
Scott Shamblin That’s completely false. The MD-80 has an APU. It’s housed in the bottom of the tail. The exhaust for it comes out of a small hole above the right engine’s pylon.
Oops, I'm wrong. It turns out the APU is right under the tailcone. Apparently if you board from the stairs, you'll hear it.
Aviation Excellence It's in a container at the bottom aft of the aircraft, though its exhaust goes through a duct up and out above the right engine nacelle.
is it me or in the MD82/83 and 87 have the slide container much further from the main door? ill say it another way, does the md88 have a shorter exit pathwalk?
Dan Mc Dine No. in this video we never got anywhere close to the slide container. In both cases you'd have to walk across the catwalk to get to the tailcone. It's very dark, hot, and extremely noisy in there (you're back there with all the hot air ductwork and APU).
@hotelgulf718 i flew on a DL D9S BNA-DTW last summer and got stuck in that row...it sucked without a window :(
How D.B Cooper escaped the plane
well on a 727 that is. This is a md88
One can retro fit these planes for extreme skydiving.
they used a 727 for a crash test by having the pilots parachute out of the tail stairs
i never have understood why there's an exit right there
crazyvator Are you talking about the deplaning stairs or the tail cone? The stairs are there because when the aircraft was designed jetways were far less common (it was an option in the DC-9). The tail cone exit is there so people aft of the wings have an emergency escape path to the rear.
thats if the tail is still attached to the air craft if you crash
Jeff Dearman are you sure
@Devilscoffie that'd be cool
is this AA?
@alumitech007 The 727 does not have a catwalk. No need for one, since there is no tail cone exit. That is the location of the #2 engine.
lol! Needs some WD40!
In an emergency landing, when everybody is pushing everybody to escape as fast as possible, is it wise to the door open to inside??? They would jam the exit and people would became BBQ.
claymag In an emergency you aren't going out the stairs. When the cabin door is armed and opened the tailcone will jettison and slide will inflate. You will walk straight across the catwalk and out the tailcone. Watch your head, it's smaller than you think back there.