Passengers get big scare on Cessna departing Yellowknife
Takeoff aborted after door opens on runway; no one injured during the incident
Paul Bickford
Northern News Services
Published Monday, December 23, 2013
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Passengers on an aircraft leaving Yellowknife for Lutsel K'e on Dec. 18 had a harrowing experience when a cargo door partially opened at the back of the plane.
Saniz Catholique, who was sitting closest to the door, said it opened when the plane was speeding down a runway to take off.
"I was the first one to hear it and notice that it was open," said Catholique. "So I just started screaming to everybody, and the passengers heard me before the pilot did. Then everybody just started yelling at the pilot for him to stop."
The aircraft then came to what she described as a screeching halt.
"There was a lot of panic in the plane," said Catholique. "Everybody felt really uneasy."
The nine-passenger Cessna Grand Caravan is operated by Air Tindi.
"We hold the safety of our passengers in the highest regard and regret any concern this may have caused them," said Sheila Venman, vice-president of human resources and communications with Air Tindi's parent company Discovery Air, in an e-mail statement.
Venman said as the aircraft was taking off and moving at about 40 knots (74 km an hour), a warning light illuminated to indicate a latch was not properly closed.
"The takeoff was aborted and the aircraft taxied back to the Air Tindi ramp for inspection," she wrote. "The outer latch of the left cargo door was readjusted and the annunciator light (alarm) was extinguished. The aircraft then proceeded for its journey without further incident."
Catholique noted she was sitting next to a cousin, who had been on the Air Tindi plane that crashed on its way to Lutsel K'e in October of 2011. Two people died in that crash.
She noted her cousin was particularly uneasy during the incident on Dec. 18.
In fact, she said her cousin got out of the plane with the pilot to make sure everything was secure. Only then did he get back on the aircraft for the flight to Lutsel K'e.
