Originally Posted by
MrHappy
I was on a flight once from Aguadilla to Santiago on a small 8 passenger twin engine plane.
About 10 minutes after takeoff, the rear entrance door blew open, the force of which tore it from it's hinges. The only thing that kept it from being lost was the steel support cables that were used as handrails when the door was lowered.
I thought that door was going to take the tail off the plane, the way it was banging around.
I ended up being used as a grappling hook. Two guys held me by the legs while I hung my body out of the plane so I could grab the door.
After what seemed like forever, I managed to wrestle it in, and was able to more or less hold it more or less in place while the pilot made an emergency landing, with firetrucks and the whole nine yards.
I was the hero!! My better half had her camera out the whole time, and frantically took shot after shot of the whole nightmare. (we discovered later there was no film in the camera)
Since this was a Dominican airline, once it was determined there was no structural damage, the pilot put the door into place, secured it with some bars, and finally, after giving it 3 or 4 hard kicks, announced that it would be ok, and off we went.
What really shook me was when we flew across the north coast. As we got close to Santiago, the pilot did a left turn, to fly over the mountains and into Santiago(this was the old airport). He flew between two peaks, and we were so low, I could see the teeth of the people standing on the ground. Some folks were actually running for cover! I looked forward at the pilot, and he was flying with one hand, and holding a map in the other. Priceless.
For many years, I was deathly afraid of flying. After that experience, it never bothered me to fly again.
And, as an aside, I worked for a few months in an aircraft manufacturing company that later went bankrupt. But during the time I was there, I learned just how strong an aircraft frame really is. Once you see static structural testing done on surface components, you understand how much of a beating they'll take.
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