Will a 2 liter plastic bottle of Coca-Cola survive a flight in the unpressurized cargo hold of a commercial airliner?

I don’t know, but I would love to find out!

Doesn’t matter; the cargo hold is pressurized.

Yes it will. They test this during bottle design phase. I once saw a video of what a two liter bottle can go through, and its pretty amazing, we are talking 5 hours in a paint shaker without even on drop coming out. dropping them from 5 story buildings and the such.

lefteh has it right. As further proof my friend and I took a number of aerosol cans on a ~6h flight for our undercarriage luggage. No problems. I’ve also talked to some people who’ve done the same when crossing the atlantic.

Are you certain all of the cargo holds are pressurized? I know that there is always at least one (also with temperature control) to help with the transport of animals. But thought that there were other sections not pressurized.

Wikipedia even explains “all modern commercial jets now have blow-out panels between pressurised compartments of the ‘plane, such as between the passenger and cargo spaces, to equalise destructive internal pressure differentials.”

Also, a plastic bottle is not gonna be anywhere near as robust as metal spray paint cans.

Yes. The plane would not be structurally sound if the cargo hold was not pressurized. In fact, your quote proves it!

“blow-out panels between pressurized compartments of the plane, such as between the passenger and cargo spaces”

It uses cargo spaces as an example of a pressurized compartment.

Ah. Makes sense. Helps to read what’s ina fronta my face.