Originally Posted by WestSideBilly

Some escape doors are plugs - the door is slightly bigger than the frame to facilitate sealing. It's possible to get it through the hatch by twisting it, but it's fundamentally easier to pull the door in and set it on the seat, and bringing it in means there won't be doors on the wings where people are stampeding out.

Practically speaking, I'd be twisting the door and tossing it out, otherwise it's just one more thing in the way of people trying to leave a presumably bad situation. If there's a situation where the emergency exits are in play, the airline probably won't be that upset if you throw their door out.

The 737NG escape doors are hinged at the top and spring loaded so they pop open (gull wing style) with a pull of the handle. So that greatly simplifies the entire process.

Also... I love Youtube for bizarre findings like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAndXzhgurI