This is the terrifying moment a student pilot accidentally opened the door of a plane MID-AIR - after he "jiggled" the handle too much"
Pilot-in-training Ronald Shearer, 33, was asked to jiggle the handle after a malfunction with the door sensors warned they were open when they were not.
But as Ronald jiggled the door to see if the sensor would give back an accurate reading, the door flew open sending fast-moving air into the cockpit.
A video of the incident shows the door opening suddenly and Ronald using all of his strength to bring the door back down towards the plane and hold it there.
The twin-engine plane was told it could land immediately at Salt Lake City International Airport in Utah, USA.
Ronald said: "We had just taken off just like normal in a twin engine. "
"Everything was routine and fine, on the downwind from the runway, a notice appeared saying the door was open. "
"The door however was NOT opened, the sensor was just not reading the door being closed. "
"The instructor told me to jiggle the handle to see if the sensor would read it. "
"I pulled up a little too much and the door flew open. "
"This was because of the difference of fast-moving air on the outside of the plane versus stationary air on the inside. "
"I could not get the door to latch back shut because of the wind."
Ronald's nerves of steel allowed him to stay calm and collected during the incident until the plane landed safely.
He added: "This has never happened to me before and I will not be jiggling the handle anymore. "
"The door sensor went off on some following flights but we just silenced the alarm and continued flying with no problems. "
"The sensor was just adjusted and fixed last week and we havent had that issue again."
After the pair landed, they laughed about the incident and when contacted by air traffic control asking if they needed assistance, they said no as they were getting ready to take off again.
The footage was captured on March 8.
This footage is being managed exclusively by Newsflare. To license this video email [email protected] or call: +44 (0) 203 937 6280
