A plane was forced to land in New York on Monday evening after losing a door during flight.
The non-commercial aircraft landed safely at the Signature Aviation terminal at Buffalo Niagara International Airport after its rear passenger door fell off in midair, according to a Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority spokesperson, The Hill reported.
Door falls off small plane in midair in New York https://t.co/ITLubgkSVo pic.twitter.com/HoonQQVd0N
— WFLA NEWS (@WFLA) February 13, 2024
The small plane, identified as a single-engine Diamond DA40, touched back down around 5:30 p.m. after the pilot noticed the missing door, a Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) spokesperson said, according to the outlet.
Two passengers were aboard the plane when the pilot reported the door disaster, which occurred as they flew over Stiglmeier Park in Cheektowaga, police said, according to the outlet. (RELATED: ‘Everyone Was Screaming’: Man Dies On Plane After Gush Of Blood Pours From Face)
The pilot contacted air traffic controllers regarding the emergency situation, audio recording from the flight revealed.
“We have an emergency, we’re heading back,” the pilot can be heard saying in the audio recording of his communications with air traffic controllers. “We lost our rear door.”
Police said they were unable to locate the plane’s missing door and that they had stopped searching for it, the outlet reported. The FAA will conduct an investigation of the incident.
Similar issues with other aircraft, including a January incident that saw an Alaska Airlines plane lose its emergency door plug mid-flight, have sparked controversy about the impact of diversity hiring on flight safety.