Bottom clamshell door popped open
 

Today my bottom clamshell door popped open in flight shortly after takeoff. Wonder if anyone else has ever experienced that? Fwiw, my bird is pressurized and the door seal was activated. I was at a towered airport so I just let them know id return to land, and despite having 24” of open sky and a bit of extra drag, the Skymaster seemed to handle fine with its mouth wide open (lower half only. .

My wife had closed the bottom door, so I don’t know if it properly latched or not. It frightened her terribly when it opened. A bag of dried dates fell out, nothing else. We grabbed the dog; thank God she didn’t fall or you’d be reading about it on the news.

Anybody else have this happen?

Glad the pooch didn't make the news!

Was any damage done? There was an explosive door incident mentioned on this forum awhile back that caused the airplane to be totaled.

I have a P model but no inflatable door seal. Just the factory set up.

I didn't realize the bottom door would even open without the top door opening first.

A rule I learned from an aviation Mentor a long time ago is that the pilot handles closing and opening of all doors on an airplane. Passengers even ones you're married to are not allowed to touch doors. This policy was in effect on all airplanes, not just pressurized ones. In the Bonanza/Baron world, if you don't close the door "just right" it will pop open on initial climb and cause a big stink.

No damage, I too was unaware this could happen—that the bottom door could open with the top door closed and locked at both the handle slider and the black button at the bottom of the window.

I think that advice—-always close the door myself, is a practice I will adopt forever more.

Tim

Glad every one is okay. I’m another guy that always leans over and manipulates the door, bottom and top. I might have the pax pull the door down, but I’m very careful with that on my non-pressurized airplane. They always seem to want to grab the very end of the handle and I can see it possibly snapping . Also, I’ve observed they rotate the handle before the door half is fully closed. Better I do it.

1511426-1 / 1511426-3 Cessna T337G Lower Cabin Door Connector Inner W/ Pin
 

If these are installed correctly I can't see how the bottom door can open without the top opening first. Regards, Joe