Emergency Exit Detaches in Flight After Repainting (N910WT)

Incident Overview

An airplane was flown for the first time following a repainting process. During the flight, after leveling off at cruise altitude, the pilot heard wind noise coming from the cabin and observed that the bottom of the emergency exit door was ajar. Shortly afterward, the door departed from the fuselage and struck the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizer. Despite this, the pilot completed an uneventful landing.

Post-Flight Examination

Examination of the airplane revealed that the emergency exit had been mis-rigged. The investigation noted that during the last annual inspection, the seal for the upper cabin door was replaced, but there was no indication of any work performed on the emergency exit at that time. Additionally, the records for the recent repainting of the airplane did not reveal any work that would have required the removal of the emergency exit.