aircraft door falls to earth 20 feet from couple, near gatwick airport
10.03.05
A couple taking a walk through woodlands near Gatwick airport had a lucky escape when a door from a passing British Airways jet crashed to earth. Part of the 70lb door from a Boeing 777 had become dislodged just after take off and missed the couple by only 20ft.
Details of the incident were made public today in a report published by the Air Accidents Investigations Branch (AAIB). The report is critical of the airline crew for failing to spot the door was not securely fastened.
On the morning of 26.06.03, shortly after the aircraft carrying 272 passengers took off from Gatwick, the cabin crew felt a 'thump'. The noise was the underwing access door of the plane falling off. Fragments of the door entered the passenger cabin, damaging two cabin windows. The aircraft immediately returned to the airport. There were believed to be no casualties from the incident.
Inspections showed that only one of the 13 catches on the door had been fastened, raising concern about the standard of inspections by BA staff. The AAIB called for a review of BA maintenance procedures.
'The loss of the door constituted not only a hazard to those on the ground but it also had the potential to hazard the aircraft,' a spokesman for the AAIB said.
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