What happened
On September 19, 2010, at 14:40 EDT, a Piper PA31-350, registration N84859, was performing an initial climb out from Bimini Airport in South Bimini, Bahamas. During this phase of flight, the lower half of the main cabin door opened. The pilot subsequently reversed course to return to the departure airport.
Upon landing on runway 27, the aircraft experienced a right main landing gear tire blowout during the landing roll. This caused the aircraft to veer off the right side of the runway, where it struck a tree and caught fire. The aircraft sustained substantial damage. All six occupants, including the commercial pilot and five passengers, were not injured.
At the time of the accident, the weather was characterized by visual meteorological conditions with a visibility of 10 statute miles and winds from 080 degrees at 10 knots. The flight was being operated under 14 CFR Part 135.