I climbed into the right seat of the old 172 on floats for one of those truly pleasant assignments. My pilot was one of Canada's leading broadcast journalists. He was introducing his new segment on the national news show he anchored in which top newsmakers were interviewed while they flew over the nation's capital and the beautiful countryside surrounding Ottawa.
Having learned to fly in an almost new J3, open doors seem to be a non-event. A friend had a 49 HP T-craft and the passenger was to open the door for landing to stop the floating. For short field the passenger pushed the door as far as possible. Modern aircraft door opening is more irritating but even less important it would seem. The real difficulty is hearing the radio of course. Even only 70 years ago it was only aviate and navigate for almost all GA.
The door latches were wonky on our flight school Warriors. Having a door pop open was a total non-event, we were used to it*. Outside of noise, very few if any airplanes with front-hinged doors suffer any issues from having the door open.
I just don’t understand the difficulty here. The door pops open… so what? Land the plane if you have just departed, or, just deal with it if you are well along in your flight. That being said, all doors should be checked with several strong nudges prior to rolling down the runway.
While we don’t (and probably never will) know exactly what happened in the cabin, it’s not hard to imagine a panicked passenger adding to the confusion, noise, and distraction of a door opening unexpectedly. Even seasoned light-aircraft passengers may not realize an open door will not adversely effect the aircraft’s ability to fly. Since there is no flight attendant, it’s up to the pilot to take care of the passengers, including helping them to remain calm in an emergency (or perceived emergency).
It might behoove pilots to include additional information in their passenger briefing regarding emergencies, especially if they know one or more of their passengers is already nervous. It might also be smart to carefully consider which passenger you want in the right front seat.
I have had a door issue twice in my Mooney. The first time was when I was taking my son to his grandparents house. On that occasion the sleeve on his jacket got closed in the door and was banging against the side of the airplane. I briefed him on what we were going to do. I slowed the airplane a bit, slipped it and he opened the door and grabbed his jacket and we closed the door. I never saw a 10 year old move so fast!
The other time was last year during the Airventure Cup race. The door popped open during the first leg. We tried closing it but the forces were too high at race speed. I decided to land at the first waypoint to fix it. Then I decided to try once to close it in the air. I slowed the airplane a bit, slipped it and my copilot/navigator wife closed and latched the door. Both were non-events.
Yes the jacket was a bit noisy beating against the side of the airplane. And yes, it got pretty loud with the door trailing open a couple of inches during the race. I was never concerned that we were going to crash. Just work the problem. In both cases I did slow down a bit, but nowhere near the stall speed. I just focused on flying the airplane and thinking through possible solutions. Neither event was an emergency. An open door is NOT an emergency in 99+ percent of the cases.
One thing for sure, we will probably be reading about another open door fatal accident next month.
Not only are most of these issues in high performance airplanes, but they are mostly in Beechcraft products. With more than a few hours in Beech products, I can report that a popped front (right) door will be quite dramatic for the occupant of the right seat (i.e. propeller blast… in my case well below freezing… directly to the face). Let me tell you a couple of stories.
I was in the right seat (before I purchased a share in the airplane) of the Bonanza with a rather experienced Bonanza pilot in the left seat on a cold (~10-deg F) day. He trusted me to lock the door, which turned out to be a mistake. Just after rotation (and far enough down the runway for an abort to be unwise), the door popped open. There’s no way to close the door in flight, so I just sat on my hands while my face froze off. I couldn’t hear him, I couldn’t see. It was the longest traffic pattern of my life. What if my pilot friend had trusted me (a legally qualified by “type incompetent” pilot) in the left seat. I would have been suddenly solo in a high performance airplane with which I wasn’t familier during an abnormal condition. Not the safest thing in the world.
Another time, I was flying with a friend. I made the same mistake that the other pilot did and let the right seat occupant lock the door. At exactly the same point in the flight the door popped open, my friend took a much warmer propeller blast to the face, and he panicked. Fortunately, we were departing from a 10,000 ft runway and I had plenty of space to land and stop. But having to fight off a passenger is never fun.
A friend was departing in a Baron with some passengers when the nose luggage door popped open while he was in a right turn. The luggage that decided to leave the compartment went right through the right propeller arc.
My point is this. When the door of your Skyhawk pops open, it’s a non-event and “just fly the plane”. Some designs, circumstances, and passengers are not as friendly. There can be secondary effects that turn an abnormality into a genuine emergency, and some of those are beyond the control of the pilot. If your training is limited to “just fly the airplane”, then you haven’t been trained very well.
Three door incidents in a B-55 Baron. #1. My father flying (left seat.) I failed to PROPERLY secure the top latch. Door pops open on rotation. My father announces that he will abort the take-off. I look ahead and see that we don’t have enough runway. I put my hand on top of his, push forward and say, “No, we are flying.” #2 Similar situation, different airport. Retired B-52 pilot in left seat. I am again in the right seat and once again, the top latch is closed, but not quite secured. Door pops open and everything on or near my lap gets sucked out the door. (The military airfield personnel were not happy about the FOD – but I did get everything back). In both cases, the plane was completely controllable, but as noted by others, some buffeting since the airflow along the side and, more importantly, over the top of the inboard portion of the wing is disrupted. No, you can’t close the door in flight. Come back and land. (Believe me, I am now VERY conscientious about door latches.) #3. I am in the left seat. COMAIR pilot friend of mine in right seat, departing CVG. Rotation speed, BANGBANGBANGBANG. Being as it is CVG, we have lots of runway in front of us and I abort the takeoff. Exit the runway and, after telling tower we are OK, I ask my right seater to check his seatbelt. Yep. Fix the issue and sheepishly tell ground that we would like to taxi back and try it again.
Bottom line: PIC must confirm door is properly secured before takeoff (maybe two or three times.) The airplane is controllable, although the flying characteristics are different. Return for landing. Make shallow turns, and fly a little faster than normal. One more thing. At least on the Baron, the door wants to open further than just “trail.” Right seater will not be able to close the door, but should try to keep it from opening any further. In addition to flying the plane, the PIC must try to keep passenger from panicking. Having the right seater hold the door as close to shut as possible gives him or her something to do.
One incident eons ago in a low-wing plane with a door curving over the top. I tried to close it but even with a bit of slipping the top latch would not engage. I gave up soon and landed at the nearest airport to close it.
But perhaps throughout our training there could be reminders that the fundamentals be respected at all times, regardless of the complexity of the problem I agree with you, Sir.
In my case, the door of the Worrier (no, that’s not a typo - you’ve never seen me fly) popped as I was climbing out on my first solo. And no, I can’t blame it on wonky latches. I blame it on the pilot who failed to secure the lower latch.
Once I recovered from the surprise, I was able to identify the source of the disruption and continued around the pattern as planned, except that I opted for a full stop rather than a touch and go. Secured the door (properly, this time) and did two more laps around the field.
It is possible to close the door in flight in a Bonanza if needed. Climb to a safe altitude, slow to approach speed in level flight, open the pilot’s window vent, put the aircraft in a side slip to the right and a healthy pull will close the door. This can also be done in a Mooney.
A front baggage door coming open on a twin is a whole different story. We had a local accident that resulted in the death of nine people when a piece of cargo exited a Queen Air on takeoff. The National Transportation Safety Board determined that the probable cause of this accident was the inadvertent opening of the forward cargo compartment door and the subsequent discharge of cargo, which caused damage to the plane’s left propeller and additional drag at a critical phase of flight, according to reports at the time.
Years maybe 15 or so ago. Door pop in Cirrus. Just opens a crack but a bit noisy.
Had guests.. Showing them the joy of general avaiaton.
I didn’t know what happened and was fearful but the airplane was doing fine… So I landed. Pushed off the autopilot and beep beep beep. Did not tell passengers and was 100.00% focused on getting down safely.
Landed a bit less than perfect but fine. I was wondering wtf and then realized oh, door pop.
Everyone relieved but passenger then says.. “I thought we were going to die.. That beeping…”
Gotta tell your passengers everything will be OK.. Or chop them in the throat if they panic as my old deceased flight instructor used to say..
I was fortunate enough to watch a YouTube video where a pilot experienced an open door inflight. The lesson was “Always fly the plane first”. Oddly, the same thing happened to me about two months later and I remembered that video. Fortunately, I also had my video cameras going when it happened to me. See link of my incident.Door left open during takeoff in POTUS TFR on my way from Florida to Toronto
Not to Pick Nits (but I will)…The picture at the top of the article says "the pilot moves a throttle lever " well unless there is an engine less than #1, I would say someone is confused. Looks like he’s adjusting the speed brake lever.
On our second date, my now-wife didn’t close the upper latch correctly and the door on the Cherokee popped open a bit and was sucking her long hair out. I told her it was harmless and I guess she believed me, we got married!
She was actually more distressed with DCA tucking us in behind a DC-9. For a “small airliner”, they make enough wake to bang one around. On the bright side she was mad at DCA, not me!
A bit of thread drift here…I do believe that good stall, spin and incipient spin training will lower the stress level when that door pops open or the seatbelt finds it’s way outside. Fly the plane and land when it’s safe to do so adding a few knots on final for “Nervous Nellie” types. When you’ve landed ASK YOUR PASSENGER(S) IF THEY ARE O.K. Then carry on or do what’s in their best interest.
I dont remember a single checkride from Private to Commercial Seaplane where there wasn’t a DPE focussed on trying to create some sort of flight- altering distraction. Has this practice been discontinued or why is “fly the plane” easier said than done?
In the olden days, there used to be the aviate, navigate, communicate doctrine. Passengers can be briefed on popping doors and the operation of seatbelts, exit-tools and what to do in case of upset or when the need to egress occurs.