The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has opened an investigation into an unusual incident involving a small plane, which lost its door after departure from Henderson, in the United States.
The incident took place on November 18, 2022, when a single-engine Cessna T240 Corvalis TTX plane with only a pilot onboard was departing from Henderson Executive Airport (HSH), located around 13 miles south of Las Vegas.
The plane, registered N240VB, took off from HSH airport at around 7.40 a.m. local time but, shortly after departure, the cargo compartment door suddenly fell off, according to a report by Fox5 Atlanta. The pilot immediately returned to the airport of departure.
Based on pictures shared by one of the witnesses of the incident, Christopher Wolverton, the door landed in a parking lot near a shopping center in Nevada. Wolverton said he heard the aircraft flying but was unable to spot it in the sky. The witness only noticed the door falling.
One witness said he saw the door falling from the sky, but his family had trouble believing him. https://t.co/m1K54r8cAE
— KTVU (@KTVU) November 22, 2022
In an audio recording of the pilot’s conversation with an air traffic controller, the pilot informs the dispatcher about the emergency onboard.
“Hey, looks like we lost the door. So, we are coming back for landing,” the pilot said.
However, the pilot said he did not need ATC assistance and landed safely at HSH airport a few minutes after.
Fortunately, no injuries were reported.