April 13
Kiwi Boss Helen Clark was slightly injured when the charted twin-engine 6 seat 30 year old Piper
Aztec she was flying in had an encounter with turbulence at 8000' that popped open the main entry door
Constable John Burridge and Senior Constable Dave Reid, of the Diplomatic Protection Squad,
struggled to hold the door closed for 15 minutes until the PA-23 made emergency landing at Paraparaumu
Airport - "They did a great job for me today, I'm really proud of them" Miss Clark is reported as saying
Reports also have the pilot checking the door before departing Rotorua in the North Island and a
suggestion that it was unlikely the door lock had been jarred loose by "normal" turbulence
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From the News Desk
The opening of a door in flight is not uncommon in light aircraft operations - Beechcraft were/are the most notorious especially after lift-off scaring many a passenger and pilot with a loud BANG-WHOOSH!
Aircraft really do fly quite successfully with a door ajar - the slipstream keeps the door almost closed - it's just bit noisy and cold if at height around 8-10,000'
Here in Queensland 2 aircraft have been written-off after a baggage door "popped" during take-off - both were Mooney 201's and in both cases the pilots insisted on trying to land disregarding normal landing procedures
- 2 other baggage door-popping aircraft - a 201 and an M20/180 carried out a normal circuit and landed without further incident or damage - in all 4 cases there were no injures to pilots or passengers
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