Door opening after takeoff, has it happen to you before ?, what could I have done better ???

[Houman]

Ok, so I take this as every small incident you survive and consider it as a lesson learned, so here is what happend to me yesterday as I was leaving the weekend gathering of Mooney Caravan in Martinsburg ( Btw, amazing time, great Mooney guys and flights during the event ).

As I was taking off, after couple hundred of feet of altitude gain, while I was cleaing up the aircraft by bringin up the flaps and gear, I heard a big wind noise and just noticed that my co-pillot door had opend a bit.

Now I can swear that I had check the door during runup as it is in my list, but maybe the handle locking it was not all the way in.

Anyway, I tried to close it by 1 hand and continue flying with the other, after 5 to 10 seconds of that, I saw that I could not do that with 1 hand only and since I was unwiling to take both hands away and concentrate on the door during intial clim, I decided to level off, call the tower and come back and land with the door open to get it resolved on the ground.

Landed sefley, got to close the door, and saw that there was no dammage, took off this time making sure 3 times that the door was well locked...

Anyway, no dammage done to the plane, just the seatbelt that was sucked and hanging outside for a short while as the door opened got ripped off a bit and I have to have the sewing redone but noting serious.

But it got me wondereing if I could have done better, maybe I could have put the plane on auto-pilot at that time and tried to close the door with both hands, but at that moment, what came to my mind was my training during an emergency, aviate, navigate and communicate....

Just wondering if it has happend to anyone here before and how you handled it...

All and all it was more of inconvenience than an emergency, but still unnerving to say the least during initial climb.

P.S. New item to add to my check list : if flying alone, make sure to buckle the co-piot seatbelt anyway, just in case

[Jerry 5TJ]

Yes, it happens
Sometimes only the main latch engages and not the upper latch
I have also opened the door in flight to drop items ( legal )
I've never been able to close the door in flight because airflow holds it open.

[omega708]

First flight in our Mooney with my wife... She insisted on closing the door herself, and I did not check it after she closed it.  Door popped open about 400' AGL.  I leveled the plane off at pattern altitude, had her hold the control wheel and was able to shut the door in flight.  

[Houman]

Yeah having someone else there would have helped, but since I was alone in the plane, it was impossible to do from the left seat and still hand fly during climb.

[Bravoman]

A door popping open is never a big deal. It only becomes a big deal if it serves as a source of distraction. Fly the plane as you normally do and button her up on the ground.

[flyboy0681]

It's happened to me several times, one time with a major contributor to this site who shall remain nameless. The noise can be intense, especially with it canceling out the squelch on the intercom. I've always found the plane to be very sluggish on final.

 

The POH says to slow the plane down to 95, open the storm window and slip it to the right. I've never been able to successfully close it using this procedure and a few times trekked on.

[Ftlausa]

As my teenage daughter can attest (who swears she locked the door), it has happened to me as well.  She was petrified, but not a major issue.  We were doing a short flight, and we corrected it when we landed.  She had a death grip on the door the whole time.  I slowed the plane down to try to get it closed, but couldn't get it.  I think the POH says go below 90 kts and sideslip to get the wind away and you can get it closed in flight. 

[flyboy0681]

As my teenage daughter can attest (who swears she locked the door), it has happened to me as well.  She was petrified, but not a major issue.  We were doing a short flight, and we corrected it when we landed.  She had a death grip on the door the whole time.  I slowed the plane down to try to get it closed, but couldn't get it.  I think the POH says go below 90 kts and sideslip to get the wind away and you can get it closed in flight. 

 

Your story is identical in every way to the time when it came open with my 20 year old son in the right seat. He held the door with a grip so tight hoping he wouldn't be sucked out.

[jlunseth]

Its not a big deal and the latch in the Mooney's can get out of adjustment and cause that.  Have your A&P readjust the latch.  Once it is properly adjusted it won't happen anymore.  And you should put an item on your checklist to check the door and pilot window before takeoff.  I do it every time I fly.

 

Air pressure both helps and hurts you when this happens.  It hurts you because the door will be kept slightly ajar and is very difficult to close in the air.  There is a procedure in the POH for closing the door in the air that involves slowing to a low speed and entering a slip with the door on the protected side, but the procedure does not help much and won't do anything for you if your latch is out of adjustment.  the door will just open again.  On the other hand, air pressure from the slip stream helps you because it is impossible even with great force to open the door more than a crack, so no one is going to fall out. 

 

It is annoying but nothing to stress out over.

[MyNameIsNobody]

I replaced the rubber gasket on the door. It popped. I ripped off gasket and went with a smaller gasket. Door closed and locked a lot easier with lower profile gasket. We shall see...Not a big deal. Fly the plane. If you have a headset wind is not that big a deal.

[Danb]

H you did good, the major item is that you flew the airplane, I'd assume almost everyone who is a pilot has had a door open and your outcome was good...

[PMcClure]

Due to wear on the latch, I had the door on my bonanza pop open 3 times, including once at cruise. That one got my attention at 180knots. My son was asleep, leaning against the door when it popped. My son screamed like a little girl (he is a 220b champion wrestler, so I still get to give him a hard time about it). It sucked all the loose paper out of the cabin, including charts and check lists. We diverted uneventfully and closed the door. 

 

There is a procedure in the M20R and Bonanza manual to close the door in flight. You are supposed to slow and slip the plane. But i never could get it closed at any speed, even with the help of a 220lb wrestler or fighter pilot as a passenger. Best to land and do it on the ground. 

 

Now I secure all necessary paper and pre-made the decision to land unless I am in low IFR in which case, I plan to continue the climb, then decide to continue to destination or divert. 

[IndyTim]

Glad you handled it safely.  I had mine pop open during runup, after my carefully-instructed right-seat passenger closed it him/herself (notice how carefully I'm avoiding attribution of responsibility).  Ultimately, it was on me - I don't care who is in the right seat, I view it as my job to check it.

 

I've mentally rehearsed the scenario:  FLY THE AIRPLANE.  Slow down, establish a nice holding pattern on autopilot, THEN deal with the door.

 

I'm much more worried about the baggage door.  My understanding is that, in Mooney, an open baggage door will significantly affect the handling of the aircraft.

[PMcClure]

Glad you handled it safely.  I had mine pop open during runup, after my carefully-instructed right-seat passenger closed it him/herself (notice how carefully I'm avoiding attribution of responsibility).  Ultimately, it was on me - I don't care who is in the right seat, I view it as my job to check it.

 

I've mentally rehearsed the scenario:  FLY THE AIRPLANE.  Slow down, establish a nice holding pattern on autopilot, THEN deal with the door.

 

I'm much more worried about the baggage door.  My understanding is that, in Mooney, an open baggage door will significantly affect the handling of the aircraft.

I can speak from experience on this one as well - the F model will fly nicely with the baggage door open.  Had this one happen on take-off,kept speed under 100mph and came around the pattern and landed. It bent the skin near the hinge, so there was always a reminder to test the door before getting in the plane. 

[Guest]

I'm confused about the seat belt. Are you saying that the webbing was damaged while it was caught in the door? If so you can't just sew it up. Seat belts conform to a TSO, and by extension so does the sewing. You'll have to send it to GJ's Belts in Manitoba for a certified repair.

Clarence

[Houman]

Clarence, the sewing where the ring holds the extra belt ( to tighten or loosen the lower part not the shoulder part ).

I will see tomorrow about GJ's Belts, but the belt it self was not damaged, just the sewing at the very end.

[N201MKTurbo]

It happened to me on my first flight with new Mooney back in 1984. I was flying to Oshkosh the day after I picked it up. It was late at night and my passenger complained about the wind noise. I naively told him to open and re-close the door. He got it opened all right but told me he couldn't close it. I slowed the plane down to about 65 KTS and he still couldn't close it. so I told him I was going to stall the plane and when he felt the plane start to drop to close it.
 

IT WORKED!  It is good to be 26 years old and bullet proof. Doing stalls at night with 6 hours in type.

[Houman]

It happened to me on my first flight with new Mooney back in 1984. I was flying to Oshkosh the day after I picked it up. It was late at night and my passenger complained about the wind noise. I naively told him to open and re-close the door. He got it opened all right but told me he couldn't close it. I slowed the plane down to about 65 KTS and he still couldn't close it. so I told him I was going to stall the plane and when he felt the plane start to drop to close it.

 

IT WORKED!  It is good to be 26 years old and bullet proof. Doing stalls at night with 6 hours in type.

Glad you are here to tell the story, you would'nt mind if I don't follow suit !!!

[Shadrach]

It's never happened to me but in addition to the sideslip, I've been told to open the pilot's side window when trying to close it in flight.

[Ftlausa]

N201MKTurbo,

 

 Sweet, stalls a night in an unfamiliar plane.  Maybe next time you should try a spin and let centrifugal force close the door for you.  If one direction doesn't do it, just reverse the spin and try the other way.  ;-)  

[omega708]

N201MKTurbo,

 

 Sweet, stalls a night in an unfamiliar plane.  Maybe next time you should try a spin and let centrifugal force close the door for you.  If one direction doesn't do it, just reverse the spin and try the other way.  ;-)  

I "liked" this post so much that I "un-liked" it so that I could "like" it a second time. 

[Guest]

It happened to me on my first flight with new Mooney back in 1984. I was flying to Oshkosh the day after I picked it up. It was late at night and my passenger complained about the wind noise. I naively told him to open and re-close the door. He got it opened all right but told me he couldn't close it. I slowed the plane down to about 65 KTS and he still couldn't close it. so I told him I was going to stall the plane and when he felt the plane start to drop to close it.

 

IT WORKED!  It is good to be 26 years old and bullet proof. Doing stalls at night with 6 hours in type.

Bullet proof and chrome plated balls!

Clarence

[Marauder]

The door popping open and me getting sucked out was one of my biggest fears. So much in fact, that I started to bring along the kind of women you see me posting pictures of. Absolutely no chance I am going to get suck out of the plane.

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[DaV8or]

It happened to me in the Piper Arrow I used to fly and also a couple of 152s as well. Basically a non event. Level off in cruise and if you have a passenger they can try to close it. If you have an auto pilot by yourself you can try to close it. If you can't get it closed, continue on to the planned destination and land. The open door in and of itself is of no danger to the flight, the people, or the plane unless the pilot becomes obsessed and looses sight of flying the plane and the plane departs from controlled flight.

 

People have died because of doors popping open and it's because they usually pop somewhere around rotation or on the climb out. Then the pilot gets obsessed with closing it while still in the climb, or in the pattern and they lose control of the plane, stall, spin and everyone is left scratching their head in amazement. "He was always such good stick and rudder and very careful".

[Andy95W]

A door popping open is never a big deal. It only becomes a big deal if it serves as a source of distraction. Fly the plane as you normally do and button her up on the ground.

'Zactly. I would always pop the door open after takeoff for an (experienced) student to see that:

A.) it's not a big deal

B.) just land the plane and shut the door easily on the ground rather than struggle with it in the air