AVIATION/ NEW ZEALAND REPORTS ON EAGLE AIRWAYS FL2854

New Zealand's Transport Accident Investigation Commission (TAIC) has released its Final Report into an incident involving an EAGLE AIRWAYS Beech 1900D at Auckland, New Zealand, on April 9, 2010. On that date, Flight 2854 was on Domestic Service from Auckland to Whangarei, New Zealand, on behalf of AIR NEW ZEALAND, with 9 passengers and 3 crew onboard. As the Beech was on its initial climb out of Auckland, captured in top photograph, the aft cargo door opened. The crew declared an emergency and returned to Auckland for a safe landing, captured in bottom photograph. The Beech sustained minor damages to its exterior in the incident. In their Final Report, released today, the TAIC said the cargo door opened shortly after takeoff from Auckland because the crew were distracted and procedures were not followed. The Report said the aircraft was being operated with a ``permitted inoperative warning system that provided an indication to the crew when the cargo door was unlocked''. TAIC went on to say: "An engineer had cleared the aeroplane to operate, provided a crew member visually checked that the door was closed and locked before each departure". As the aircraft was prepared for departure, the baggage loader closed the cargo door but did not fully rotate the handle to lock the door. TAIC says "The First Officer was distracted during the final pre-flight inspection of the aeroplane and did not positively check the condition of the door. The Captain and First Officer did not adequately confirm that the cargo door had been visually checked and confirmed locked before departure". The Report said that as the aircraft was taxied, the door handle vibrated loose, allowing the door to open during the takeoff. However, the Report said that as a result of the safety actions taken by the operator, the Commission did not need to make any recommendations. TAIC said that all crew should be reminded that cargo doors and other openings on an aircraft must be securely latched and checked before flights and that there was a need to strictly follow and complete checklists. The Report, which can be found on the agency website, also said if there was an interruption of a checklist, the checklist should be started from either the beginning or the last confirmed item completed.