SAAF King Air loses door on take-off

[Aquila]

A King Air E90 lost its door back in 2000 too, at FL200 near Kuruman...

The aircraft was on a domestic charter flight from Lanseria airport to Sishen when the
accident occurred. The aircraft was established in the cruise at FL 200 when the cabin door
light illuminated (indicating that it was not closed properly). The cabin pressure altitude was
increased to 10000 ft AMSL, reducing the pressure differential to approximately 3.5 pounds
per square inch. Approximately 15 minutes from Sishen, the pilot started the descent. As
the aircraft descended through 15000 ft a loud bang was heard as the cabin door blew open
and separated from the aircraft. The pilot continued with the approach and an uneventful
landing was executed at Sishen. No other damage was caused to the aircraft and no
injuries were sustained.
On inspection of the aircraft, it was evident that no mechanical failure of the locking
mechanism on the aircraft side (not the door side) occurred, as all six latches were in
position.
Seeing that all catches are inter-connected to a single handle, it has to be assumed that the
handle was not secure and crept into the “open” position during the flight causing all the
latches to open. Unfortunately the door was never recovered and it was not possible to
establish weather the locking mechanism was in proper working order and operating
satisfactorily.

Report can be seen here: https://caasanwebsitestorage.blob.core. ... e/7258.pdf

[Walter105]

This happens to be the same aircraft that scraped the terminal building at Virginia with a wingtip on 6 March 2021. Let's hope it won't suffer any more damage in future...

viewtopic.php?t=238763

https://www.defenceweb.co.za/aerospace/ ... -building/

Will probably be grounded and eventually scrapped. SAAF budget is so strained they probably won't be able to afford repair costs.

[stoney727]

Repairing of the aircraft will depend who was at fault. If it was the AMO, they will have to repair the aircraft. If it was the crew.......well we get into muddy waters here and don't know who has the money to repair the aircraft.

[snoopy]

On the upside - fortunately it didn’t hit the tail when it came off in flight.

[beckers]

That is a cargo door variant. In the image, bottom right of the cargo door and cabin door are still in place.
The cargo door is secured with Cams that rotate around catches on the fuselage. The cams are operated via a cable mechanism within the door, it is possible the cables and pulleys failed in some way not rotating the some of the cams fully closed.

The normal cabin door is part of the cargo door. The cargo door is hinged at the top and the cabin door at the bottom.

To me, it appears that the cargo door departed from the top left down. I think a failure on the hinging or the left hand locking cams on the cargo door.

Should the warning light have come on in flight here is the checklist. It may more likely have been a sudden malfunction with no prior warning.

ILLUMINATION OF CABIN/CARGO DOOR WARNING LIGHT (200C)

WARNING ,
Do not attempt to check the security of either the airstair door or cargo door in flight.
Remain as far from the door as possible with seatbelts securely fastened until the airplane
has landed.

If the cabin is pressurized and either door is not completely locked, any movement of a
door handle toward the unlocked position may cause rapid, complete unlocking and
opening of the door.

1. If cabin/cargo door warning light on annunciator panel indicates that cabin/cargo door may not be secure,
depressurize cabin (consider altitude before depressurizing cabin) by activating cabin pressurization
dump switch on pedestal.
2. Do not attempt to check doors for security until cabin is depressurized and the airplane is on the ground.
3. Check security of the cabin door by turning the handle toward the open position. If the handle will turn in
this direction, turn it back to the closed position and ensure that it locks in place. Check security of the
cargo door by opening the handle access covers and checking that the handles are locked in the closed
position.

[Ugly Duckling]

Door was located on a farm nearby

[Walter105]

Door was located on a farm nearby

At least good that no injuries or damage to property occurred.