...you are almost certainly going to have to wait for water to enter to equalize the pressure in order to open the door unless you are small enough to be able to squeeze out the side windows (or windshield if it caved in).
Most single engine aircraft aircraft sink like a rock. Low wing aircraft tend to do better in this regard, especially if you climb onto the tail to counterbalance the engine weight. Twins do much better in general, being both low wing for the most part and with the CG more centered with the engines on the wing.
I remember watching a program on tv, unfortunately not which specific program, where they tested opening the door of a car that was sinking by both waiting until the pressure equilized and trying to open it as soon as possible after entering the water (A pool in this case).
And I want to remember they had a very difficult time in opening the door of the car while it was still sinking, even though it was filled with water, until it touched down on the bottom. As the internal/external pressure was constantly changing as the car sunk until it touched down on the bottom.
Therfore it was concluded that attempting to open the door as soon as posible, before the car had a chance to truly sink and take on water, was the way to go. Of course, as soon as the door was open the car sunk quite quickly.
Has any testing been done in this fashion on aircraft, or anyone had experience where waiting for the pressure to equilize prior to attempting egress proving to be much more difficult than previously thought?
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