What happened
On September 19, 2010, a Piper PA31-350, registration N84859, was performing a departure from Bimini Airport in the Bahamas. Shortly after the aircraft began its initial climb, the lower portion of the main cabin door became unlatched and opened. In response to this mechanical issue, the pilot executed a turn to return to the departure airfield.
During the landing sequence on runway 27, the aircraft experienced a blowout of the right main landing gear tire. This failure caused the plane to veer off the right side of the runway, where it subsequently collided with a tree. The impact triggered a fire before the aircraft finally came to a halt. There were no injuries reported among the pilot or the five passengers on board. The aircraft sustained substantial damage during the incident.
Findings
- The primary sequence of events was initiated by the failure of the main cabin door to remain closed during the climb phase.
- The subsequent runway excursion was caused by a tire failure on the right main landing gear during the landing roll.