mrshutter45

no placard will be behind the panel...the handle is there to pull..

the placard will not fit on that panel. it's too big and doesn't have holes in it?

Haven't you posted several pics placing marks where you believe pop rivets or screws were? the pull out panel probably has male and female connections in each corner..like a speaker cover...

I'm only aware of two lights on the panel...

show me any placard on the stairs with fasteners...that doesn't fly. it's a decal. it would stick very well.

That only shows the stairs closed enough for the light to go off and on. has nothing to do with the emergency system. you are implying they were locked. if that was the case they wouldn't retract!!!!!

The stairs are not meant to be deployed in the air. they can be lowered and that's it. they will not lock...

They will not lock down in the open position while in flight, period. normal release or the emergency release will not work. the wind load will stop it from going all the way down. There is no way to know that the decal was found and remained in that location for seven years..

It's not a placard location card. and it does imply not all the planes they have with stairs had this system...it doesn't show markings on either surface on the card. it's explaining the action. The blueprints would be the opposite. they show where the placards are placed but don't explain how to use the system.

I have to try and contact Hominid. I seem to recall him saying they also had the emergency handle in the box. that would explain opening an access door..

As mentioned, these planes are no longer in service and show missing parts. most of the wall is missing in this photo above. each airline is different. while Continental airline crews didn't know about the system doesn't imply NWO didn't or that it had these placards. the safety card is not a placard location card. even with the photo I provided a while back showing the door to the normal stairs open does credit the fact that the placard is not below or beside the emergency panel or we would see it. only above the panel is blocked. it's not uncommon to have multiple placards. the safety card could of been the same card prior to adding a placard...

A stew or a mechanic from the 70's working at NWO is needed to verify if the planes had this system. NWO is documented in the 302's explaining the placard location. they would know but it's odd they just don't say the placard was right by the controls in the stairs vs by the rear door. Boeing does confirm the decal is from the stairwell...a lot of the video's we see are no longer in service Commercially and privately owned. the decals are missing, possibly the emergency system removed etc.

The Hicks placard would not fit on the emergency panel and would have two holes in it...this is now a private luxury jet. 407 ..727-100's were manufactured. 164 had the system with 63 getting upgraded. that's 227 minus 407 is 180 without the system..

Then that leaves 180 that didn't have the emergency system.....

I don't recall that at all, in fact I stated many times that nobody would walk down the stairs like they would a typical set of stairs.. it's nothing but a guess how he jumped off the stairs. only two ways to really do it. The question would be whether or not Cooper accessed the emergency panel. if he did the small panel must be somewhere. Tina does make a statement that she showed him the "controls" and not the control to the stairs. then several days later they thought Cooper might of hidden behind the panels in the stairwell. while checking they describe the stairwell failing to note the emergency panel and state only one control.

Boeing records indicate all passenger aircraft were manufactured with this system. even some cargo/passenger aircraft had them. if the records are correct in the Yap report then 305 also had the function.

It's what I've been saying. that type of control is not similar to what is on a 737. it's purpose it to release something easily. you can't do that with electric stairs that deploy different than free falling. it's specific to that type of stairs. the placard is from the stairwell of a 727. Cooper clearly had trouble with the stairs. I don't think it was trouble at all. he didn't know they wouldn't drop fully while in flight. it's very plausible he removed the placard in frustration. the odds are greater of the possibility of coming from 305. placards do fall off but to have one from the inside get on the ground isn't that hard to figure out when the stairs were open for most of the flight. if he did remove it and was right handed it would of been discarded to his right which would be onto the stairs. it's extremely light and could of escaped easily. he had no reason to keep it or toss it out. the panel would be missing if he did use that function and I'm guessing the handle would now be on the outside of the wall hanging like a loose pull handle on a lawnmower away from it's original location inside and behind the wall panel. unless it had some sort of retracting system.

When will you realize Boeing has now stated two times the placard was not on the exterior of the plane. are they lying too along with Tina and now Hicks?

Looking at the photo's of the testing shows it would be pretty difficult to stand up on the stairs. not much room and the stairs don't go as far down as I thought with weight on them..this photo shows the stairs far from being down. the same with the other photo.I showed with the sandbag on the steps.

It's impossible to determine anything. we don't know what the placard looked like if it left that plane fully intact, ripped off the wall or was damaged on the ground . seven years past before it was found. was the wall flat or textured (rough surface) where it was attached..too many variables..

I never noticed that until I read it again after posting it. I also find it odd that Boeing would claim turbulence caused it to come off. it's documented that hardly any disturbance was in the stairwell while the stairs were down.

According to the newspaper, yes it was in the bushes. Hicks states he was "going through the brush" in the series "In Search Of" which is a similar statement made to the newspaper.

January 18,1979 Boeing officials confirm the placard came from the stairwell of a 727.

To date, I have not said the placard came from 305. I said the odds have increased. Boeing has verified the placard to being an interior placard. I fail to see the placard matching any other air stair by Boeing other than possibly the DC9. I'm not sure how they operate. the 737 is entirely different all together.

it's well documented that on January 6, 1972 a test was done to determine the affects of the pressure changes by the crew. it wasn't done twice. this is a report from years after the fact. dated photo's back this up. they flew over the ocean. another newspaper states they were not sure they were missing after the flight.