"Kevin Brooks" wrote...

A cargo hatch blew out of a DC-10 in 1974, and it took a big chunk of the
cabin floor above, with passengers, out of the aircraft--the rest of the
aircraft then augered in. Face it, rapid decompression *can* (does not mean
*will be*) be a very bad thing, even when it may just involve a window.

The belly cargo door in a DC-10 is on the order of 6x8 feet, or 7,000 square
inches. A window is on the order of 100 sq in or less, and a bullet hole 0.2 sq
in or less.

You cannot compare the rapid decompression from the instantaneous loss of the
cargo door to the outflow from a bullet hole or loss of a window.

Further, the loss of that cargo door caused secondary structural damage --
buckling of the main deck -- which compromised the structural integrity and
controllability of the entire aircraft. Neither of those would occur with a
single bullet hole in the fuselage -- no matter WHERE or WHAT it hit -- or loss
of a cabin window.