Cape Air plane makes emergency landing after door swings open mid-flight

Door was open for 15 minutes before pilot was able to land.

A plane travelling from Maine to Boston had to make an emergency landing after one of its doors swung open mid-flight. The pilot was forced to land the Cape Air plane at Logan Airport in Boston when an exit door opened 15 minutes into the flight on Wednesday 9 August.

The plane landed safely at 4:20pm local time (9:20pm BST), around 15 minutes ahead of schedule. None of the nine passengers travelling on board the flight were injured. The pilot was the only crew member on the plane.

Cape Air spokeswoman Michelle Haynes said the window on the top half of the exit door used by passengers to enter the plane flipped open during the flight and that "the pilot immediately declared an emergency".

She said that although passengers were not in any danger, she understood how distressing the incident must have been everyone on board the flight. "I don't want to downplay this because it's disconcerting at best," Haynes said. "I'm sure it was noisy."

Haynes added that the window of the Cessna 402 plane was open for 15 minutes before the pilot was able to land and that the cabin was not pressurised as the plane flies at a lower altitude. Cape Air is investigating what caused the window to open mid-flight and has sent a maintenance team to inspect the plane, Haynes said.

In May 2017, a flight had to be diverted after a passenger became aggressive, attacked the crew with pots of coffee and tried to open the cabin door while the plane was still in the air.

The man, who was later identified as Brandon Michael Courneyea, had to be secured to his seat by crew members aboard the Air Canada flight, and other passengers using zip ties, a federal criminal complaint said.

Courneyea was flying from Jamaica to Toronto on 15 May when the incident happened, forcing the plane to land at Orlando International Airport. Crew members contacted the FBI at about 7.30pm when a flight attendant reported Courneyea started to yell at fellow passengers "for looking at him", the complaint said.