Had a door pop open on a final in to Smithville Texas years ago while flying a Cherokee 140. The wife tried to jump into my lap. Dealing with the passenger and reassuring them that they could not push the door open any further if they tried because of the airflow while you are flying the plane down final does make those landing rememberable.
Had the door pop open in a Cherokee 180 over the San Joaquin valley at 8000 feet. This was back before headphones, boy was it loud. My wife yelled at me saying she was still there. We landed at small airport to close it and get some coffee. A poor salesman walked out to my wife and started to talk to her about airplanes, he was sorry for ever saying anything to her. She was not a happy camper.
I’ve had the door pop open on my Kitfox a handful of times. It’s pretty violent and loud when it happens! Luckily it can be flown with the doors open so it doesn’t do any damage to anything aside from my underwear 🤪
I've had an open door a few times in my Mooney. It's definitely a distraction but I changed 2 things after the first time it happened. 1) I always double check the door MYSELF even if the passenger has flown with me multiple times and knows how to close it. You never know when that one time u check it, it's still open. 2) I noticed that ur wife said "no it's fine" when u wanted to land. Always go back to remembering that YOU are the PIC. If that door is open and you're that close to the airport like ur daughter said... Land and fix it. No need to have additional stress of a problem that could have been easily solved at the expense of 5 minutes. Great job focusing on flying the airplane with that distraction and the vibrating elevator!
I totally agree on all points. In my mind I was like I am going back to land no matter what anyone says. We often have to make uncomfortable and unpopular decisions (like cancelling a trip) but that is our job as PIC. You can see I was already turning toward the airport before anything more happened with the jacket. I gave a talk to an Aviation Explorers group and talked about this very thing. Great comment for sure!
Probably the second time I had lended an plane by myself, my instructors seat broke. His seat reclined flat, and as an older gentleman could not get himself back up. Mind you this is short final in contested airspace. He told me you got this just land it. By shear luck I greased it. Luckily it was only the bolt that holds the seat back to bottom seat. We got it fixed, had a good laugh, and got back upon the air. It was nerve racking not having my ace in the hole at the ready, but really helped me gain some confidence. Doesn’t seem so bad now, but I was ready to be on the ground when it happened. I will never forget that.
This will HAPPEN ONCE! I will promise that Poppins and your Daughters will always truly check that the doors are closed. The check list is NOT to be glossed over, each and every time, fully checking and making SURE.... I wish we had cameras to see how much our stabilator shook. Our luggage door popped open over Wisconsin on our way to a family Christmas in Minnesota, my Mom lost here purse. 7 years later, a package arrived in September for my Mother. A hunter getting ready for archery season found her purse in the woods on a tree limb and sent it back. $83 dollars and everything else.... Once is all it takes and you will ENSURE that the doors are properly latched and closed.
Awesome story! Please, if you can tell me more! What kind of condition was the purse in after being in the elements so long? Was there anything lost on the fall down?
Nice video. Sedona and most of Arizona are amazing. I was right seat a few weeks ago when the door popped open in a Bonanza... the PIC was cool as ice, "ignore it, we'll deal when we land". Not even a flinch. IMHO the door popping open should be part of the pre-takeoff briefing, where the pilot says "don't do anything, we'll just land and fix it". Too many fatal accidents from the exact same situation, where (like in your situation) the passenger overreacts. Great flying.
Do not know how good of a cinema guy you are in your "real" job, but as far as videos like this, you are definitely on top of your game. What a refreshing way to present aviation content. Great job !!! PS. As far open door flying goes, my only time was when we removed on purpose the door of a C172 for some aerial pictures. More fun than planned for sure...je
40 years ago I was asked to help scatter a friend’s ashes after he passed away. The family met me at the airport with Vern’s ashes, and his son flew with me. I had a Tri-pacer, which has a back door on the pilot’s side. The son sat in back, and the plan was to make a low pass over the runway while he dumped the ashes. No one thought about the back draft that would be caused by opening the door in flight. When the son started pouring Vern overboard, the wind whipped around that door and blew about 40% of Vern back into the plane. My partner, who was flying in the right seat, opened the front door to create some airflow through the cabin, and eventually Vern exited. I sold that plane to a guy in Alaska, so a little bit of Vern got to visit our 49th state.
Over the years I have had a few doors pop open and they always got treated as a non-event ,no big deal. Flew the plane and depending on the plane, shut the door when appropriate or left it open. First flight lesson on tail wheel in a champ, shortly after take off door popped open and we flew around for an hour with an open door. stating the obvious, your open door was not a problem, just a nu-sense. the attempt to fix that lead to a problem. glad it ended well. many pilots have dented the dirt trying to fix a nu-sense and didn't live to tell anyone. Oh and sweet ride.
I trained in Florida and we always had the door open until just before take off to cool the cabin. My instructor told me that eventually I'll forget to latch it, but don't worry - just fly the plane. It will be noisy and you'll lose a bit of performance, but the plane will fly just fine. A few weeks later on a solo he was right and I forogt to close the door. I finished the take off, stabilized the plane and finally reached over and closed it while sending good thoughts to my instructor for preparing me for this.
Great video, SCFM! I really enjoy watching your videosI Keep them coming. This vid is a great example of what happens when the “holes in the cheese line up” or the “links in the chain” that lead to disaster. You finally made the right choice to land, which your gut (and your daughter-she’s smart!) told you to do from the outset. This would be a great video for any instructor to show their students. The CFIT warning in mountainous terrain, the open door, the cockpit distractions... all brought you one step closer to what could have been a tragic accident. By breaking a link in the chain of events and committing to land, you got back to your initial gut reaction and made the right decision. We’ve all learned lessons in aviation, so here’s one you can stick in your pocket. As PIC, you get to decide what happens on your plane, not the PAX. My rule of thumb, whether i’m flying a 787 or a Piper, is that if I’m questioning what to do in any circumstance, that’s my gut telling me there really isn’t a debate here and that I know the right choice; That there really isn’t a decision to be made between what I want to do vs. what I need to do. When it comes to being the PIC (of safety, really), there are no wants, just needs. You needed to land and you did. Good job on making the correct decision. BTW, I live just south of Sedona and it is beautiful! Fly safe!
just found your channel a few days ago. Been going through some of your videos. These are some of the best I've seen on RU-vid. Awesome job. And definitely rule #1 above all else FLY THE PLANE. if you fail that part nothing else that is happening really matters. Enjoy your time and adventures with your beautiful family.
Just imagine flying when your hear your passenger saying, “yoooo it’s a f****** wasp”,... I was extremely scared lol. Good think he killed it with my headset case 🙃.
Yup. 1997 at FZY. Cessna 150 my door un-latched and popped open an inch or so on rotation. Automatic reaction ... "Fly the plane". Completed 1 lap in pattern, full stop landing, shut and latched my door and took off. (of course announced intentions on unicom) Great day.
Great cinematography, editing and story telling. Great information on handling distractions. Thanks for sharing. Turbulence with young daughter who was sure she was going to die was my distraction experience...fly the plane.
When I was a student pilot, the right window of the 172 would have a tendancy to pop open in flight. It actually provided my CFI and I an opportunity to talk about the "what-if" of distractions. Still scared me the first time it flew open.
Flew with a friend (I was safety pilot) to get a tour of the Allentown, Pa tower. On the way, we had an alternator failure. Flying home after the tour, we needed to do some scud running and at the same time realized the pilot door was not fully closed on our C172. Wasn't the best flying experience I've had, but it was my 40th birthday and my wife gave me a surprise party that night. So, it ended well!
After my wife and I owned our plane for nearly 2 years, she was so good at helping me pack it, that it seemed silly not to give her an extra key so that I could open the front door, while she could open the baggage door. Dropped her off at KWHP that afternoon on our way home from SF, then headed to Palm Springs. Soon as I landed, got the call from the FBO - "70A, there appears to be something flapping on the side of your aircraft..." baggage door key is stubborn, it seems.
Had a tailwind at 4000 ft climbing in my A36 doing 190 over ground when my door popped open! It sounded like my engine had blown up, all of my papers were sucked out the door, it was very chaotic looking but the first thing I did, fortunately was check my instruments and fly the plane! Returned to my RDU base, landed and took off again immediately. Was a very scary experience but prepared me for another pop open ON TAKEOFF in GRBO but early enough to set it back down on the active runway.
Went flying with my brother and his girlfriend a few weeks back in a C-182. I was enjoying the scenery here in New Mexico and looking for traffic when I faintly heard the girl friend say to my brother "I'm kinda warm, can you crack open the window?" Which he dutifully did just before I could yell "NO!". When that window popped open, they both jumped like a fire cracker was under 'em. As the tears of laughter were falling, I told my brother to pull the window closed and asked if he'd lost anything out the window. He turned to me, white as a sheet, and shook his head, but showed me that he'd been holding brand new iPhone. I've updated my passenger briefing to include not touching anything, including doors and windows. Great videos, really love that your family enjoys traveling with you.
Had the door on the Arrow pop open just like that leaving KCWF a few years back with my young son in the right seat. Usually happens right after rotation like mine and from what I've been told. Just got noisy, told tower I needed to make a closed pattern and land. Your video really proves that doing anything with the door just has the potential to make things worse. Better to just accept the noise and cold and make it back to the runway to deal with it on the ground. Thanks for the video proof of what happens and can happen. Thankful that you were able to get it back to Sedona before that coat affected the stabilator.
Yeah we definitely learned from this one. I've had the door open a bit on solo flights and I just leave it. Actually feels kind of good in the summer but it's noisy AF!
It also opened the door during takeoff on a Cherokee six but my Flight Instructor was in the right seat so i had no problem, but its good to know that even a jacket can cause an accident, im glad everything turned fine and your family its ok. Awesome Videos!
It's funny I did the same thing with my Father in Law and two passengers, trusted him to secure the door and it wasn't - no coat, no buffeting but still in the end made me a better pilot, even if I was mad at myself for a while :)
Thanks for the sub! Hope you enjoy the other videos on the channel. Another video that is most similar to this is our Paragliding adventure in Santa Barbara..so you may enjoy that one as well.
During my flight training my instructors door on a Cessna 150 popped open on downwind. Scared me as I had no clue what to do. Didn't seam to phase him at all, he just shut it, looked at me and laughed. This happened after an hour of flying. Other times I've had a luggage door with a bad latch that would pop open when landing so after a few touch and goes someone on the radio would inform us of the open baggage door. So far after getting my PPL I have not had such an experience.
Its so instructional sharing your videos with us that you do. I have had on several occasions not latched a door properly and yes no big deal. But, admittingly I thought the jacket would have been a good idea. Amazing how quickly it got sucked out and the pronounced effect it has on the flight characteristics. Its one of these smaller incidences that makes it so valuable to be able to see the results. Hats off to you for keeping your cool. Adds a lot to the pilot tool set. Keep up the good work.
Thank you for the comment. I was also super surprised that the jacket got out such a tiny opening. It was like an octopus finding its way through a tiny hole if you've ever seen a video of that...
Used to live in Sedona. Took flying lessons at that airport for a while. Flew out over the meteor crater on the way to the Winslow Airport nearby. I assume you've done that, but if you haven't, it's worth going back just for that experience. I also climbed and camped on the very top of Bell Rock with two friends. I brought what I needed to make cappuccino up there for us all the next morning and blew their minds. On the way down we saved a tourist who had gotten in over his head on the climb and dislocated his shoulder. We rigged a harness for him and lowered him on our equipment ropes. Not a bad adventure.
Wow camping atop Bell Rock sounds amazing. My kids love that place- all they want to do is go there and climb. I hope they don't end up like the guy you had to rescue! Never flown over Meteor Crater but it sounds great - I will keep it in mind. I have been there a couple times on the ground and it is cool.
Great Videos. Learned over many years of flying and a few open doors, The pilot should always close and latch the door. Once we adhered to that, never had the problem again.
I have had it happen a couple of times in an Arrow and a Cherokee Six. It is possible to close them in flight. The first thing is to secure loose objects, then slow to a few knots above stall with full flap on. Open the pilots clear view window, release the top latch and quickly open the door and slam it shut. Close the top latch and clean up the aircraft then resume normal flight. Opening the clear view window is the crucial bit as it slightly reduces the pressure in the cabin and allows the door to close.
I had a open door once on a 56nm trip, we where on a Piper Seneca V, it was almost right after take off but we decided to keep going. In this cases as you said its very important no to loose focus and keep flying the plane. Nice Channel, already subscribed. GREETINGS FROM GUATEMALA, CENTRAL AMERICA!
I've had doors come open flying Cessnas (172 and 182) but never in the Cherokee Six. I do know that our door seal isn't thick enough, and once we're at speed the door is pulled outward enough that if the person in the right seat has long hair, it can end up out through the aft door seal area and be on the outside of the plane. It's great that you had the multiple camera angles to be able to capture all of that so well, and to show the horizontal stab moving in the disturbed airflow. Well done. And I loved the reindeer.
I used to see her hair out the front door but I very recently re-rigged the door with new eyebolt, washers and clevis pins and the seal is a lot better. But not if you don’t engage the bottom pin on the strike plate!
Great video. Almost died in Sedona on a backpacking trip, but that’s a different story. Open doors are part of flying. Fly long enough, it will happen. I’ve had several times where long pieces of clothing get caught in the door in the winter. 1. Never try to close it. It just won’t work. 2. It’s not that big of a deal. 3. Go land at your origin airport. 4. On low IMC days triple check it. Taking off, identifying the problem, programming in a return approach, and landing in a high workload environment is a terrible idea. Great job!
Hi from Germany, absolutely brilliant videos!! This one with Sedona really got us! We been there 2018 after the Heli Expo, and actually spent some time at some of the same places! Really amazing place ! You are doing a brilliant job with your videos! I like the way how you enjoy the opportunities you have with your family! As a commercial Helicopter Pilot I am just converting to the Fixed Wing World to actually use it more with my family! I am looking forward to see more from you and your family!! Cheers
Guten tag! :) Thanks for the comment. I hope you enjoyed Sedona as much as we have. Just can;t wait to go back. Good luck on your fixed wing flight training. It is probably a lot easier than helicopters!
On my private check ride as part of my pre takeoff, I told the DPE that if for some reason your door pops open not to worry, you won’t fall out of the airplane...just close it firmly and if needed we’ll return to the airport and land. About 10 minutes in...my door popped open!
Hey my name is Indy, I'm 22 living here in California. Just wanted to say I really like watching your videos. I took my first flight last year and I've had a bug for flying ever since. Came across your videos and now I want to look into getting my private pilots license. If you have any tips or info i should know I'd like to know, your wife is a legend for saving the jacket too.
There may be scholarship opportunities for young aviators. Search up aviation explorers and see what the age cut offs are and it may lead you to some other resources. Start ground school online and find a good instructor that you connect with. Thanks for watching!
I was getting my complex at KSBA in January and the door popped open right over the ocean in takeoff as well. Definitely something I won’t forget and a good thing to triple check hahaha
@@SoCalFlyingMonkey Yes I do find being a CFI/CFII to be very rewarding. It's a fun gig - now obviously instructing is not for everyone. You got to have patience and that desire to be a good teacher. I got plenty of stories of crappy instructors from me being a student or even recently seeing some instructors like "How are you still instructing?"
Of course we also once forgot to close the door of our PA28-181 and started to fly slower because you can close your door again during flight at a certain speed. A tip is that you can take a look in your Pilot Operating Handbook because it contains the speed at which you can close your door during the flight.
Hi all .... I'm glad you guys handled the open door situation. We had. Piper archer for years (88 - 2005) and yes we too had open door situations. What we did -to fix it was have my wife lean into me and I push the door open 3 inches or so and pulled it shut tight and then latch it - easy peasy! As you build time and familiarization you'll use your checklist less and less ... this s the real problem. As PIC we cannot ask wives and kids to confirm systems .... I.e., the door and the latch. The more disciplined a pilot can be with the checklists the safer you'll fly. After learning these lessons I always flew as if I were on a check ride with an imaginary check-ride pilot. Just suggesting ... love your videos - they trigger many memories of N4483F. From the rebuild, new interior and paint etc .... enjoy and fly safe!
I had the door opened on my Cherokee 180 one time. If you trim for slow flight, you can open the door and slam it and latch it again while in flight. Just for future reference.
I went flying with a friend in Clearwater, FL in a Cessna 150 about 30 years ago. We were at about 1,000 feet over Treasure Island when he decided to roll the plane with my wing down. When he does, my door pops open and I'm staring down through the hole at the beach. At this point I realize the seat belt is really the only thing holding me in. He levels off and reaches across to secure door, sure he's got it latched. He rolls it again, door opens again. When he leveled off the 2nd time, I was finally able to feel the notch to get the door latched for real.
Sure did! Happened to me once in a Beech Baron 25+years ago. Both I and my CFI had never flown a Baron before and it’s the only plane left on a tarmac. So we just jumped in and went on to accumulate my flight hours. As soon as we’re airborne the door popped open and my flight instructor hold on for dear life fearing that it would came off and hit the tail (the shape of the door might had something to do with the strong force trying to pull the door outwards). I made a 180 and landed on to the the oppose runway. 25+ years later and 25,000+ hours later (mostly on 777 and 787). This clip sure brings back the memories. Good job!
Just a tip from someone who flight instructed in pipers for a couple years, pop your breather window open and it will relieve the pressure on the door and usually allow it to be closed. Sorry if someone already said this. Blue Skies!
Had a gullwing door (the type that flies further open when entering the airstream) essentially explode open as I was taking off in an Outback LSA one time. I've never gasped so loud in my life! Fortunately, there was a closed runway/closed airfield straight ahead where I was able to make a landing and repair the locking mechanism.
that would have freaked me out too! the danger is you want to slow down to close the doors but then your are flying slow, maybe close to stall speed, and distracted right? It's good to recognize the dangers and think about them ahead of time...
Great job staying calm and in control. Big fan, love how you bring family and flying together. Actually about the door I noticed on multiple videos that exact door seemed to me no shut property, if you look at video of Close Call going to KIZA. Just as you taking off door looks not totally flushed with fuselage. Minute 2 of video
Yeah I replaced the hardware (eyebolts and clevis pins) and moved the strike plate to make it as tight as possible. I think that's as good as it's going to get. It doesn't look flush but is all the way closed. Just a high time airframe door...
Two great trails: 1. Wilson Mtn, not difficult, but takes a while- the payoff is the view at the end (peak) of the trail; 2. Devil’s Bridge- sensational hike although some is over rock & if you don’t find the cairns you one can easily get off-trail.
My open door story has change the way I handle the door closing procedure. I let my friend (who was also a CFI) closed and “latched” the door on my 1999 Archer IIIl. Since he was an instruct I did not check to see if the door was closed properly. Well it opened and while there was no immanent danger we had to circle and land. Now I am the only one, regardless who is in the right seat, that secures the door. Never a problem again.
Happened to me in my former airplane, a Piper Warrior, once. The door was not latched and it popped open after takeoff ... my VFR chart on the right seat was immediately sucked out. What I did (becasue I had trained it before): I climbed to a safe altitude, slowed down and slupped the airplane twd the open door. This way I was able to shut and latch it!
I haven't read all the comments here but others have probably said that in a Cherokee you can open the pilots DV window and the pressure in the cabin will then allow you to close the main door (once you have reached point where the flying duties are chill, of course)...
Pretty tense moment with the jacket, glad it didn't get ugly for you. Bravo for not letting it distract you from flying the plane. I do have funny story regarding an open door in flight too. During my Private Pilot checkride the examiner wanted to demonstrate if I had lost a rudder control that I could use the doors on our Cessna 152 to make the airplane turn a bit. Well after my final landing of the ride he had this look of bewilderment and confusion. As i taxied off the runway I couldn't help but think I screwed up something badly and that I was in jeopardy of failing for something I couldn't think of. Not that it was a perfect checkride (there is no such thing) but I felt I had performed satisfactorily in my mind. Well after shutdown he quickly unbuckles and frantically starts looking around for something and I had to ask at that point what was going on, thinking here comes the pink slip and maybe he dropped his pen or something. He goes "have you seen my phone?" Looking back at the flight I remember him getting a phone call as we took off and he simply placed it on his lap after reaching it out from his pant pocket. Well fast forward a couple stalls, steep turns, etc and that darn door demonstration I knew the answer as to where his phone might be; the practice area! And to confirm this I attempted to call it hoping for it to ring in the airplane miraculously. Nope, straight to voicemail! At this point he was huffing and puffing like he had passed a kidney stone as we walked back into the office. I slowly conjured the guts to ask, "so did I pass?" And his reply was "yeah yeah" and we had one of the quickest debriefs ever. Ironically we both work for the same airline now. Aviation is definitely a small world!
That's a great story. Thanks for sharing it. I will definitely remember to secure my phone and other loose items if we plan on opening the door after hearing that!
had the gull wing door pop open in a cessna 162 when my instructor forgot to latch the door. almost lost an Ipad out the door. pulled power to idle so he could reach out and shut it.
It happened to me a couple of days ago, I was on a PPL solo nav and after takeoff I heard a hissing sound and realized that the bottom latch on my Warrior 3 wasnt closed, I tried to close in on takeoff but it wouldnt work and being a single pilot it was a bad idea to try to close it in-flight, so I flew the pattern and landed back to close it and took off. This happened in Warrnambool (YWBL) Australia. Gotta remember to follow the checklist correctly :)
Instructor bumped his window latch on a 172N while climbing out of Lancaster, PA over the Susquehanna River....his eyes about popped out! He though his door popped open. I told him my flying isn't that bad, no need to bail out. It will startle you.
Its amazing that that jacket would have such an affect on the handling off the plane that the elevator wing would shake that much, i guess the jacket rapidly changing shape and drag would have random forces on the plane
Thanks! I hope you can make it happen. There are a lot of ways to own a plane, including partnerships with others to share a plane or buying and leasing back to a flight school. All the ways require lots of research to know the ins and outs but it's all possible...
I was on my PPL long cross country flight in a clapped out 152 aerobat. It was slow as molasses in winter. So I had plenty of time to relax between checkpoints. I was leaning against the door, gangsta’ style. Feeling all in control. Right up until the door popped open. I knew the door wouldn’t open very far, or so my instructor had said at one time. He had also said that the aerobat had quick release door hinges that would jettison the door in flight to allow egress with a parachute, so never touch the pins..it was a mantra, never touch the pins. Remember it, live it, own it. But In that fraction of a second, I was sure the pins had somehow slipped out, and I would soon be in free fall without the benefit of wings or viable control surfaces. Once I realized that it was only the worn out latch that slipped, and the door was still attached, my heart rate began to return to normal. The lesson that day stuck with me... always triple check the doors, sit up straight, and never rent that aircraft again.
I made a fuel stop in a small midwest town, on a cross country, and neglected to double check the baggage door on my Mooney. Those swing up and it popped open shortly after takeoff. I wasn't worried about control, but I was definitely focused on keeping speed down while I make a pattern lap...which wasn't, in hindsight, the right focus to have. I could have bought a new door. And, as a Flagstaff resident (just up the hill from Sedona), I appreciated this video. As I was watching it, I was thinking I needed to tell you about the "hidden" Amitabha Peace Park, which is a great spot to visit and wander...then I saw you got there too...good research, sir! Next time, plan lunch at The Hudson (a popular local spot, off the beaten path, with great food) after a hike up to the Devil's Bridge.
I had that once, couple of month back. Its scary, but i continued to fly the plane and landed safe. Good check before take off is high prio now on my list.
Open door: a modest problem that can become an emergency if you allow it to distract you. Which you didn't, and that's good ADM (there have been fatalities based upon an open door and pilot resulting distraction). I've had it happen 3x times in Bonanzas, with the key lesson being that I can't ever abdicate my PIC duties. I give detailed instructions in door operation to the passenger, but I always make the final check myself. Love your video, love the fun you and your family are having (and isn't that what it's all about?), and appreciate the Sedona view - I'm flying there later this year. Reindeer! PS: Is that a little Bevo in your daughter's lap?
Thanks for the positive comments! I enjoy hearing the stories about open doors - it reminds me of how common a situation it is and reinforces the fact that we need to just FLY the plane. You have a good point as the primary responsibility is to be PIC and control the airplane and not get distracted. Hope you enjoy Sedona- it is a great place to fly and visit. And yes, that's a little Bevo that she has named "Longhorn." Wife is a UT fan and my in laws went there.
I flew my first solo with the passenger door open. Didn't realize until I was rolling out on the first landing and I could hear something banging a little. Didn't cause any trouble in flight though but I didn't have a jacket hanging out. That stabilator vibration looked pretty scary. Good job.
Might I suggest Catalina Island for a $100 buffalo burger? Beautiful place, good food and a cool approach. At least it was 20 years ago when I flew there.
I always make sure as PIC, that I’m the last person to check that door. Trust but verify; I learned that in training after a friend I used to work at the FBO with fueled my 172 and left the wing mat on top of the wing. The instructor questioned it and I said no he wouldn’t do that. I got out and checked and sure enough the mat was still there.
Man I love your videos! I've had the door pop open a few times, and here in AZ, I've even flown with it cracked open on purpose. My 66' 140 doesn't have very good ventilation at all. No wing root inlets. When it happens for me, I've been alone. Basically I just get some altitude and take her to stall speed with flaps and that takes the pressure off of everything an I can re-latch it. Having a family on board, I probably would have just landed as you did. When I saw that stabilator shake, that would scare me. Ever seen the NASA PA-30 Flutter video. It was done on purpose past VNE, but still creepy! I fly into Sedona all the time, 45 minute flight for me. You made it look as spectacular as it is. Well done!
It is really a great place to fly and then not far from the Grand Canyon. Just study up on the airport before you go (on a mesa so expect downdrafts, sloping runway, etc)
If you watch at 10:25 you can see something flapping from the bottom of the door. Could that have had anything to do with why the door would not latch? And good on her for not letting that jacket go because that absolutely could have caused issues with the stabilizer.
Good work getting it on the ground safe. Next time, try slowing the plane down, side slipping, maybe even see if unlatching the top latch would let the door open and make it easier to pull the jacket in. Either way you did the right thing. Don't panic. Get on the ground safely. Good work.
