Pictured: Air Asia Airbus A320
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What: Air Asia Airbus A320 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Macao
Where: Macao International Airport
When: 2009 08 24
Who: 148 passengers
Why: While en route, a warning light signaled that the emergency door was open

The plane made a safe landing. Apparently the warning message went off in error on a securely locked door.

George’s Point of View

The issue here is not simply a warning light. It is the fact that warning lights on aircraft are crucial, life-saving equipment and cannot afford to fail. A warning that goes off for no reason may cause the “boy who cried wolf” syndrome (i.e. let’s ignore it because that warning always goes off;) or it can indicate some mechanical underpining that is faulty (loose wire, blown gasket); or a miniscule software error that could range in significance from mundane to catastrophic.

So let’s hope that maintenance looks at that door until they determine exactly what did happen to cause the warning to go off. Because the only way to prevent problems in the future is to pin down every issue now, before it escalates into another Airbus disaster.