Lessons learned: Cessna 421 “The boss’s open door policy”
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Flying is an amalgamation of victories and defeats, thrills and chills.
Therefore let us not forget, “there but for the grace of God, go I.”
This fine Summer day dawned really beautifully. I had a trip for an owner of a C-421B from KDUC (Duncan, OK) to M25 (Mayfield, KY). We were under contract to manage the airplane, which was owned by a construction company.
This trip was to take my passengers to Mayfield, KY and then the aircraft owner (non pilot) and I would go to Tullahoma, TN for the night.
We dropped off 5 happy construction workers for their weekend off and saddled up for the relatively short hop to TN. The owner was in a hurry to get home too and with the CAVU (ceiling and visibility unlimited) weather it didn’t take long to be underway.
The 421 has an airstair arrangement on the left side of the fuselage behind the wing composed of a bottom (stair) and a top (window) that clamshells together.
As I was trained, I always closed and secured the door myself only this time, as the owner followed me into the airplane, he said he would get it. Normally I wouldn’t even consider having a passenger secure it, except he had owned the airplane for years. I assumed he was more than familiar with how it works – many of you are shaking your head right about now.
I started engines and taxied to the end of the relatively short runway. After a quick run-up, scan for traffic, and a radio call, we took the runway.
Power up, brake release, acceleration normal, and we roared down the runway.
As soon as I rotated, I heard a loud pop and lots of air noise coming from the behind me, followed by the Owner yelling something unintelligible.
It didn’t take long to figure out what happened. The top of the door was wide open.
I should mention that the 421 is pressurized so the cabin pressure, combined with slip stream, is what opened the improperly latched door.
I was mindful of my speed not wanting the top clam shell to impale itself into the horizontal stab. I also pulled the props back to keep the propwash at a minimum.
We stayed in the pattern and landed uneventfully.
Total flight time: under 5 minutes!
The cause: The owner left the safety chain off the door handle.
So there are a few valuable lessons to be learned here:
- Never assume when it comes to flying. Trust but verify, as a former President said
- Don’t let anyone, other than trained crew members accomplish safety sensitive functions
- Don’t let the customer (or anyone) rush you
- Keep cool when things are going wrong – this was the only part I got right. Doors have brought down lots of airplanes, mostly because of the distraction
As has been said many times, flying is amazing, but it’s also extremely unforgiving of mistakes.
Fly safe!
Its so true. Lots of airplanes have been brought down by that from distraction alone! A friend of my dad’s died in a Paris Jet. They left the ladder attached and were so worried about it they stalled the plane on final.
Luke,
Thanks for sharing that experience. That old adage of ‘fly the airplane first’ just doesn’t always resonate in the heat of battle.
Brent
I once had the trim wheel jam-up in a rented Piper Warrior on a take off climb out. As soon as I leveled off I was not able to retrim, so I immediately returned to the airport and by midfield on the downwind leg even flying at a reduced speed, the amount of forward pressure needed to maintain control which seemed inconsequential at first … soon had become exhausting !
Once safely on the ground a mechanical inspection revealed a lead pencil had become tightly wedged in the trim wheel assembly allowing no movement whatsoever.
Holy crap Dennis! That’s scary! Glad it worked out.
Valuable lessons for all of us who fly to remember. Fly the plane, stay calm, don’t let anybody rush you.
I lost a door once. I took off after a fuel stop, observed a fuel leak, and returned for landing; lucky for me the door fell off on the ground. Had it exited the airframe in flight it could have hit the stabilizer. I don’t fly that airplane any more.
Ben,
Wow! No doubt you did it right! That’s like multiple emergencies going on!
Thanks for sharing your story.
Brent
Brent –
“Flying is an amalgamation of victories and defeats…” Well said!
Your story reminded me of the first time my wife flew with me in a rental Cherokee and the top door latch popped open when we rotated. That November Michigan air was rather brisk! To her credit, after we landed and fixed the door (fly the airplane!), she was actually willing to take off again. Ten years later, I am still amazed that she didn’t just hop out and run for the car as soon as we landed!
Thanks Chris! And thanks for sharing your personal experience!
Brent