Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Denver, Colorado 80249
Saturday, August 23, 2003 19:19 MDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
The first officer reported that as part of the first flight of the day, he performed the cabin/cargo door checks. He said, "All checks of the cabin and cargo door circuitry appeared normal." The first officer said that the airstair door operated normally during the three previous flights that day. He reported that on the incident flight, he "did not note any abnormalities as far as the operation/locking of the forward airstair door." He said that the cabin door annunciator light went out as normal after closing and locking the cabin door. He and the captain verified that the doors were closed and the annunciator lights were out. The captain reported that approximately 5 minutes into the flight and passing 8,000 feet msl, the cabin door warning light illuminated. The captain said they ran the checklist, which directed the passengers to ensure their seat belts were fastened. The captain said he directed the first officer to tell approach control that they were returning to the airport. The captain said they did not declare an emergency at that time. The captain said that approximately 2 minutes after the cabin door warning light illuminated, he initiated a 20 to 25 degree bank left turn to take them back to the airport. During the turn, the captain said he heard a pop and the cabin door came open causing damage to the door, doorframe, and left propeller. The captain said they declared an emergency and landed with the cabin door open. An examination of the cabin airstair door showed no anomalies with the locking mechanism and circuitry. An examination of the door sensor to the forward cabin door warning light showed that the door handle could be placed in a position where the door's pressure lock plunger was just engaging the latch plate, but had not dropped into the "keyhole," and the warning light would go out. When moving the handle through the closed position so that the handle could no longer move forward, the pressure lock plunger would fully engage in its "seated position" and the warning light would go out.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the first officer's improper preflight preparation in failing to ensure the cabin airstair door was fully locked and secure. Factors relating to the incident were the cabin airstair door handle not being fully secure and the forward cabin door warning light not illuminating until the airplane was in flight.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 8/23/2003 |
| Event Day of the Week | Saturday |
| Time of Event | 1919 |
| Event Time Zone | Mountain Daylight Time |
| Event City | Denver |
| Event State | COLORADO |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 80249 |
| Event Date Year | 2003 |
| Event Date Month | 8 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | 395131N |
| Event Location Longitude | 1044001W |
| Event Location Airport | -- |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | -- |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | -- |
| Airport Elevation | -- |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 1909 Mountain Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 360 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | DEN |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 5431 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 10 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | MDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Dusk |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 9500 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 4300 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Few |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | Overcast |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | -- |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | -- |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 23 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 14 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 200 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Wind direction could be determined |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 18 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | -- |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | -- |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 30.15 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | 7444 |
| Intensity of Precipitation | -- |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | None |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | -- |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | -- |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | -- |
| Injury Total None | 16 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | -- |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 14704 |
| NTSB Notification Source | FAA COMM CTR |
| NTSB Notification Date | Aug 23 2003 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 1940 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | DMS |
| Date of most recent change to record | Feb 5 2004 4:26PM |
| User who most recently changed record | NTSB\MONR |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | Denver, Colorado FSDO |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N192GL |
| NTSB Number | DEN03IA147 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | -- |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | Yes |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | Beech |
| Aircraft Model | 1900D |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | -- |
| Aircraft Serial Number | UE-192 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 17230 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 21 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Aug 19 2003 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 21.8 |
| Airframe Hours | 17493.7 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | No |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | Great Lakes Aviation, Limited |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | 1022 Airport Parkway |
| Aircraft Owner City | Cheyenne |
| Aircraft Owner State | WY |
| Aircraft Owner Country | USA |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 82001 |
| Operator is an individual? | No |
| Operator Name | -- |
| Operator Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | Yes |
| Operator Street Address | -- |
| Operator City | -- |
| Operator State | -- |
| Operator Country | -- |
| Operator Zip code | -- |
| Operator Code | GLBA |
| Owner has at least one certificate | -- |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | -- |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | -- |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | -- |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | DEN |
| Departure City | Denver |
| Departure State | CO |
| Departure Country | USA |
| Departure Time | 1910 |
| Departure Time Zone | MDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SAF |
| Destination City | Santa Fe |
| Destination State | NM |
| Destination Country | USA |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Climb - to cruise |
| Report sent to ICAO? | Yes |
| Evacuation occurred | No |
| Date of most recent change to record | Nov 19 2003 10:34AM |
| User who most recently changed record | MCBM |
| Since inspection or accident | Time of Accident |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | -- |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |