No. You CANNOT open the door of a modern, pressurized commercial airliner in midflight.

That’s a myth. One less thing for you to worry about, okay?

Now, do idiots try to open these doors? You bet.

The latest incident happened aboard an American Airlines flight to Dallas this week; some woman yanked on the handle of an emergency exit door but was restrained by crew members and arrested.

Fortunately, this attempt didn’t and couldn’t have worked, because of pressure, and because of the way plane doors are constructed. USA Today gave a good explanation of these “plug type” doors awhile back: “When closed, [these doors] are larger than the openings. You can push on a cabin door all you want, but it’s not going to go through the smaller opening.”

Which brings us to pressure: airliners begin pressurization after the doors are shut and the plane starts to taxi. Pressurization effectively “seals” the doors shut, and you can tug on the handle all you want, but please don’t unless you want a free trip to the local hoosegow.

Now can doors ever open on their own? Sadly, yes. In 1989, 9-passengers were sucked out of a United jetliner when the cargo door opened, creating an explosive loss of pressure. The cause was later determined to likely be a malfunction in the door’s electrical locking mechanism (and, yes, the locking design was subsequently changed).