Introduction
American Airlines Flight 96 operated as a regular domestic service connecting Los Angeles, California, with New York, New York, making intermediate stops in Detroit, Michigan, and Buffalo, New York. On June 12, 1972, the aircraft, a McDonnell Douglas DC-10-10, departed Detroit on the next leg of its journey.
Incident Sequence
Shortly after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, the left rear cargo door of the DC-10-10 unexpectedly blew open and detached from the airframe. This occurred while the aircraft was flying over Windsor, Ontario, Canada. The loss of the door led to rapid decompression of the cargo compartment and caused structural damage to the fuselage.
Classification
The event has been referred to informally as the Windsor incident, but the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), the U.S. agency responsible for transportation safety investigations, officially classified it as an accident rather than an incident. The distinction is based on the severity and circumstances of the event.
Aftermath
The aircraft returned safely to Detroit, where an emergency landing was executed. The flight crew managed to maintain control of the airplane despite the damage. The incident prompted further examination of cargo door latch systems on the DC-10 design, though no specific causal factors or recommendations are detailed in this summary.
Investigation Outcome
The NTSB investigated the accident and determined that the cargo door had not been properly closed and latched prior to departure. The board cited a lack of positive indication of the door's lock status as a contributing factor in the failure. However, the source does not state a probable cause explicitly; therefore, none is provided here.