Cabin doors are designed to make it nearly impossible to lose pressurization through opening a cabin door in flight , either accidentally or intentionally . The plug door design ensures that when the pressure inside the cabin exceeds the pressure outside the doors are forced shut and will not open until the pressure is equalised . Cabin doors , including the emergency exits , but not all cargo doors , open inwards , or must first be pulled inwards and then rotated before they can be pushed out through the door frame because at least one dimension of the door is larger than the door frame . Pressurization prevented the doors of Saudia Flight 163 from being opened on the ground after the aircraft made a successful emergency landing , resulting in the deaths of all 287 passengers and 14 crew members from fire and smoke
Saudia Flight 163
Saudia Flight 163
Uncontrolled decompression