The flight was to be the private pilot’s first multiengine lesson in the Piper Aztec originating out of Hillsboro, Ore. Both the student receiving instruction and the MEI performed an uneventful preflight check and run-up, which included a check of the brakes and the security of the cabin door. During the takeoff roll, the cabin door opened.
The flight instructor called for the pilot to abort the takeoff. The pilot reduced engine power to idle and applied pressure to the brake pedals.
The plane was equipped with foot-operated brakes on the left side only, which was occupied by the pilot undergoing instruction.The airplane began to decelerate, however, as it approached the end of the runway, brake effectiveness began to dissipate, and the airplane went off the end of the runway and ended up in a ditch.
Investigators determined that the remaining runway distance, had it been flat, should have provided for an adequate distance to stop, however, the runway sloped downhill, with its gradient rapidly increasing beyond the threshold, which resulted in an increased distance needed to stop the airplane.
The post-accident examination of the braking system revealed no evidence of mechanical malfunctions or failures that would have precluded normal operation.
The NTSB determined the probable cause of the accident as a runway overrun due to an insufficient stopping distance due to the downsloping runway during a rejected takeoff. Contributing to the accident was a cabin door that inadvertently opened during the takeoff roll.
NTSB Identification: WPR13LA154
This March 2013 accident report is provided by the National Transportation Safety Board. Published as an educational tool, it is intended to help pilots learn from the misfortunes of others.
Poor decision making on part of the CFI. An unlatched cockpit door on takeoff or in flight is hardly something to be overly concerned about. I had one come unlatched on me one time in turbulence on climbout from Mammoth Lake CA which scared the living daylights out of my young daughter who was seated in the rear next to the door. Suddenly there was a rather hard bump with just enough torquing of the airframe whence the door unlatched. There was a significant amount of slipstream noise but that’s about all there was. As a rear door immediately behind me I had to turn the yoke control over to my son, age 8, instructing him to keep the wings level which he was able to do quite well as the airplane was being kicked around by turbulence from the surrounding mountains. I had to unbelt, turn around to get a grip on the door handle whence I was able to get just enough movement against the slipstream pressure to relatch the door closed.
During that entire episode, the door never opened more than a crack but you would have thought from the way my daughter freaked out she was going to fall out of the airplane then and there despite being belted in. To this day (she’s now in her 40s) she hasn’t forgotten that “scary moment” although she laughs about it now. My son also now in his 40s, went on later to get his Private Pilot’s License.
In this case with two pilots onboard, once airborne the airplane could have been put into a sideslip if necessary with the sideslip from the side opposite the unlatched door which would have relieved the slipstream pressure on the door enabling the other pilot to pull it shut with force. There was never any need to call for an rejected takeoff for something of such a relatively minor nature when considering that some airplanes are flown with the doors removed.
What is the old saying, “people that live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones” ?
Releasing your seat belt during turbulence strong enough to open the door in order to close the door, as you say a minor problem, probably wasn’t the best thing to do.
If you had been knocked un-conscious by the turbulence while closing the door, the results for your children could have been far worse than runing into a ditch.
Just food for thought.
How many times have we instructors preached that an open door in a piper does not constitute an emergency? Keep flying the airplane as if nothing happened & close the door at your convenience!