A small aircraft in South Carolina was forced to make an emergency landing shortly after takeoff on Tuesday when a door detached from the plane. The single-engine Diamond DA40 was in the air for mere minutes before the door fell into the yard of an unoccupied house. The incident occurred after the plane departed from Myrtle Beach International Airport at 2:53 p.m.
The plane, which was carrying a pilot and one passenger, declared an emergency following the door’s detachment. Despite the alarming incident, there were no reported injuries. The aircraft, identified by its flight number as belonging to the LIFT Academy flight school, managed to return to the airport and land safely at 3:01 p.m.
Local resident Wendy Hodges discovered the missing plane door in a yard adjacent to her home. She was alerted to the unusual occurrence when a passerby informed her that a piece of an aircraft had fallen nearby. Upon investigation, she found the door in the yard of the neighboring property.
In a separate incident on the same day, another emergency landing took place in New England. A Cape Air Cessna 402C experienced a landing gear malfunction and was forced to return to Boston’s Logan Airport. The plane made a dramatic landing with only one wheel, a scene captured on video. The pilot and two passengers, one of whom was a Cape Air trainee, were unharmed.
These incidents underscore the importance of stringent aircraft maintenance and safety checks. While both situations ended without injury, they serve as a reminder of the potential dangers that can occur during flight. It is crucial for flight schools and airlines to ensure the safety of their aircraft to prevent such incidents in the future.