Piper Chieftain ZK-RDT, door opened in flight, New Plymouth to Auckland, 31 October 2001
      
  Status
              Closed
          Occurrence Date
              Report Publication Date
              Jurisdiction
              NZ
          Legacy Inquiry Number
              01-010
          On Wednesday 31 October 2001, at about 0800, Air National Chieftain ZK-RDT, operating as Origin 457, was on a scheduled passenger flight from New Plymouth to Auckland when the cabin door opened in flight.  Passengers held the door in a slightly ajar position for about 10 minutes while the aeroplane was landed at Auckland.
The incident resulted from wear and distortion of door latch components, which had not been detected and rectified.
A safety issue identified was the need for more awareness by both pilots and engineers of mechanical deterioration of items such as the door latch mechanism
      The incident resulted from wear and distortion of door latch components, which had not been detected and rectified.
A safety issue identified was the need for more awareness by both pilots and engineers of mechanical deterioration of items such as the door latch mechanism
Location
              New Plymouth to Auckland (-37.105506,174.630561) [may be approximate]