weak, allowing the handle to be forced closed even with the pins out of the locking holes. This occurred on Flight 96, when the handler forced the handle closed with his knee. In spite of the vent not closing completely, neither the handler nor the engineer considered this to be serious. Although the vent door remained partially open, it closed enough to cause it to "blow shut", and thereby allow pressurization of the cargo hold. Although the handle did not seat the pins entirely, the small amount of motion it managed to cause was enough to press on the warning indicator switch, deactivating the cockpit warning light. It was only the combination of all of these failures that allowed the accident to happen. Yet all of these indicators shared a single point of failure: the mechanical weakness of the locking system that allowed the handle to be moved. The cabin floor failure was also a matter of poor design. All of the other portions of the cargo holds had holes cut into the cabin floor above the cargo areas. In the case of a pressure loss on either side of the floor, the air would flow through the vents and equalize the pressure, thereby eliminating any force on the floor. Only the rearmost portion of the cabin lacked these holes, and it was that portion that failed. Because the control cables were running through the floor for the entire length of the aircraft, however, a failure at any point on the floor would cut controls to the tail section. Aftermath The National Transportation Safety Board suggested two changes to the DC-10 to ensure that the Windsor accident would not recur: changes to the locking mechanism to ensure it could not be forced closed, as well as venting cut into the rear cabin floor. In response, the Federal Aviation Administration, in charge of implementing these recommendations, agreed with McDonnell Douglas that the additional venting would be difficult to install. Instead, they proceeded with the modification of the locking system and additionally added a small clear window set into the bottom of the cargo door that allowed operators to directly inspect whether or not the latches were in place. Combined with the upgrades to the wiring that had already been on the books, this was expected to prevent a repeat of the accident. Shortly after the event, Dan Applegate, Director of Product