Door Open In Flight (Poll)

[Boilermonkey]

Many years ago I had the baggage door pop open on T/O in a M20C.   Startle factor was real.   Blew a lot of papers around in the cabin too.  

I kept the airplane slow and came back around, landed safely, had my passenger go out to inspect and close/latch the door.  Then off we went to get our $100 hamburger.

Not a big deal if you focus on flying.

 

[HawkGT]

Not Mooney related but I had this happen in a A36TC with my nine year old son sitting right seat.  It happened just after rotation  on a short field, he screamed bloody murder.  My right arm went around him, more for comfort than to hold him in since his seat belt was on, and I flew the plane in the pattern and landed again.  I was shocked by the lack of performance in climb to pattern altitude with the door open and gear down but in retrospect time had slowed to a snails pace.  I didn’t want any part of trying to close the door so close to the ground, especially with him scared to death.  Once on the ground the door was secured and triple verified.  I was on an instrument flight plan so I called approach to let them know what happened and get a new release time and made sure all three kids were comfortable giving it another go.

 

Interestingly the poll shows over 50% of people have experienced a passenger door that came open.  Moral of my story is doors pop open across many different makes/models and flying the plane is your number one priority.      It was extremely scary for all of my kids, especially the one looking out the door, with the noise and the wind blowing but after a few seconds everyone realized it’s not like the movies.  I’ve heard of all kinds of tricks like stalls and slips to close the door in flight but I want nothing to do with this when the remedy can be accomplished on the ground. My $0.02

[0TreeLemur]

On 1/23/2022 at 11:40 PM, N201MKTurbo said:

I don’t think it matters. The door opens about 3 inches, no more, no less.

Oh, it does!!!   Proof here!  <- (click the link)

[N201MKTurbo]

4 hours ago, 0TreeLemur said:

Oh, it does!!!   Proof!

I did it once, it’s your turn. Unlatch that sucker and make a video of you trying to open and close it.

[201er]

4 hours ago, 0TreeLemur said:

Oh, it does!!!   Proof here!  <- (click the link)

New development: Trevor’s door popped and he couldn’t close it so he has to bail out and make a movie about it.

[Boilermonkey]

I've also had the door handle pin come out and get lost, leaving me trapped in my former M20C.  Glad I had a pair of vice-grips in the seat pocket.

[N201MKTurbo]

6 minutes ago, Boilermonkey said:

I've also had the door handle pin come out and get lost, leaving me trapped in my former M20C.  Glad I had a pair of vice-grips in the seat pocket.

My old F Mooney sheared the pin. I replaced the pin with a Craftsman #0 Phillips screwdriver. It served for about 5 years until I replaced it with a clevis pin.

[Boilermonkey]

2 minutes ago, N201MKTurbo said:

My old F Mooney sheared the pin. I replaced the pin with a Craftsman #0 Phillips screwdriver. It served for about 5 years until I replaced it with a clevis pin.

Funny!   We used a hex wrench as a replacement for years.   ...and still carry the vice-grips just in case.

[MooneyMitch]

On 1/23/2022 at 9:40 PM, N201MKTurbo said:

I don’t think it matters. The door opens about 3 inches, no more, no less.

Anthony said if we post something we think is funny (reference Trevor being sucked out of his open door), we should put a  at end of post..... I did that . 

[Wildhorsetrail]

 
similarly….
Had a seatbelt end get caught in the door of a Cessna once… the loose end flapping in the breeze makes a scary sounding vibration… spanking the airframe…

Same thing exactly happened to me. I thought for a moment something serious had gone wrong.

Sent from my SM-A326U1 using Tapatalk

[Joshua Blackh4t]

I've half closed the door one time and only realised it after levelling out at 8500ft, getting bored and looking around the cabin and thought its a bit unusual to be able to see through the door seal. I turned the handle the last bit and all closed up.

 

I was warned that the baggage door could be a hazard, so I have a policy of "open and propped, or down and locked, NEVER closed and not locked"

Good to know it doesn't seem fatal