Incident Overview
On 30 June 2014 at 1445 UTC, a privately operated Europa XS (registration G-FIZY, serial number PFA 247-13291, powered by a single Rotax 912-UL piston engine, year of manufacture 2007) departed from Thruxton Aerodrome for a local flight to conduct an air test as part of the revalidation of its Permit to Fly. While cruising at approximately 110 knots and 950 feet above mean sea level over Tangley, Hampshire, the left door detached without prior warning. The pilot verified that control response remained normal and returned to Thruxton, where the aircraft landed without further incident. The two crew members on board—the pilot and an observer—sustained no injuries.
Pre-Flight and Door Condition
Both the pilot and observer stated that they had checked the doors were closed before departure. The observer, seated next to the left door, noted no flapping or draught that would indicate the door was not properly closed. The missing door was not recovered. Examination of the remaining hinge fragments revealed what was reported to appear as a “fresh” failure face, and no damage was observed in the area of the shoot bolt guides, suggesting a hinge failure was unlikely. A post-flight inspection identified that the door had struck the left tailplane, causing significant damage.
Door Mechanism and Previous Incidents
The Europa XS features gull-wing doors, each hinged along its top edge at two points, with a gas strut supporting the rear of the door in the open position. The door is secured closed by two tapered shoot bolts that extend from the lower corners of the front and rear sides into guides in the door frame. According to the Light Aircraft Association (LAA), the post-flight inspection revealed evidence of the extended rear shoot bolt rubbing on the outside of the door frame. The source notes that if the rear of the door is not fully closed, it is possible to move the locking lever to the closed position with only the front shoot bolt engaged, giving a false impression of a fully locked door. Several previous incidents in the Europa fleet have involved door detachment due to the rear shoot bolt not engaging in its guide when the door was closed.
Safety Action
The LAA is working with Europa Aircraft Ltd to design a safety modification intended to prevent recurrence of such door detachment events.