Student pilot opens plane door mid-flight while ‘jiggling it’
This is the horror moment a pilot-in-training accidentally opened the door of a plane mid-air.
Footage shows the door of the jet flying above Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah suddenly opening after Ronald Shearer ‘jiggled’ the handle too much.
The 33-year-old was asked to check the door after a malfunction with the sensors was showing that it was open.
As the student went to inspect, moving the handle, the door suddenly flew open, sending air into the cockpit.
Using all of his strength, he can be seen bringing the door back down towards the plane.
But Ronald could not get the door to latch back shut because of the wind and had to hold it there until the pilot landed.
He said: ‘We had just taken off just like normal in a twin engine. Everything was routine and fine, on the downwind from the runway, a notice appeared saying the door was open.
‘The door however was not opened, the sensor was just not reading the door being closed.
‘The instructor told me to jiggle the handle to see if the sensor would read it. I pulled up a little too much and the door flew open.
‘This was because of the difference of fast-moving air on the outside of the plane versus stationary air on the inside.’
His nerves of steel allowed him to stay calm and collected during the incident on March 8.
Ronald stressed this has never happened to him in the past and he has now learnt to never jiggle the handle again.
The door sensor went off on some following flights but we just silenced the alarm and continued flying with no problems.
‘The sensor was just adjusted and fixed last week and we have not had that issue again,’ he said.
After the pair landed, they laughed about the incident and when contacted by air traffic control asking if they needed assistance, they said no as they were getting ready to take off again.
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