Interview insert: 727 source states take-off impossible with rear stairs extended
Title revised to match the document’s own text.
Original title: Interview insert: Boeing 727 source states rear stairs cannot be used in flight
Document date 2 December 1971
Part of: Insert re 727 testing personnel on rear airstair operation in flight
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Id: Cooper-Part-112:062-062
Subject: Cooper Files: Cooper-Part-112:062-062 Document: Interview insert: 727 source states take-off impossible with rear stairs extended Id: Cooper-Part-112:062-062 Page: https://cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-112%3A062-062 What is wrong (title, date, type, which pages belong together, copies)? What does the scan show?
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FBI 164-81, Vault Part 112 p. 62 (DB Cooper-7103), Report, dated 2 Dec 1971 — cooper.theunsolved.net/documents/Cooper-Part-112%3A062-062
SE 164-81
On 12/2/71, [REDACTED] [REDACTED] Seattle, Washington, furnished the following information:
He was [REDACTED] project and he conducted the initial testing of this aircraft.
-> It is physically impossible to make a take-off in the 727 with the rear stairs extended. He explained that if this were attempted the stairs would strike the runway at the point of rotation just prior to liftoff.
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[REDACTED - large block, approximately 15-20 lines redacted under FOIA exemptions b6/b7C]
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On the 727, the rear stairs cannot be lowered from the pilot's compartment. They can be lowered only from the passenger compartment in the rear of the plane or externally if the plane is on the ground.
[REDACTED] advised that once the operation of the rear stairs has started, there is no way to stop them until they have extended to the full position. On the ground when the rear stairs are extended, the weight of the stairs actually carries them to the full open position. If the stairs are extended in flight, the pressure of the wind keeps them from opening to the full position.
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- 278 - DB Cooper-7103
Serials: SE 164-81