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P28A pilot reported several items fell from his aircraft in flight after the baggage door lock failed; allowing the door to open.
| Attributes | |
| ACN | 1383613 |
| Time | |
| Date | 201608 |
| Local Time Of Day | 0601-1200 |
| Place | |
| Locale Reference | ZZZ.Airport |
| State Reference | US |
| Environment | |
| Flight Conditions | VMC |
| Light | Daylight |
| Aircraft 1 | |
| Make Model Name | PA-28 Cherokee/Archer/Dakota/Pillan/Warrior |
| Operating Under FAR Part | Part 91 |
| Flight Phase | Cruise |
| Route In Use | Direct |
| Flight Plan | VFR |
| Component | |
| Aircraft Component | Cargo Door |
| Person 1 | |
| Function | Pilot Flying Single Pilot |
| Qualification | Flight Crew Private Flight Crew Instrument |
| Experience | Flight Crew Last 90 Days 150 Flight Crew Total 1100 Flight Crew Type 1000 |
| Events | |
| Anomaly | Aircraft Equipment Problem Less Severe Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown |
Narrative:
After liftoff; I climbed to 1;000 feet AGL and departed the field to the south. Once leveling out I heard a swoosh sound and it seemed like the baggage door had opened in flight. I had done a thorough pre-flight and couldn't believe it had opened inadvertently.I immediately returned to the runway and once landing; articles of luggage spilled out on the runway. The door was definitely open.I taxied the plane off the runway and gathered all belongs from the runway. I inspected the door latch and had the cylinder in my hand in two pieces. It had cracked from bouncing down the bumpy runway. The cylinder metal was torn into two pieces and I took pictures and called my mechanic.unfortunately; one bag had fallen out of the plane with lots of expensive and heavy photographic equipment inside. It was reported to hit a man's roof and cause damage to his roofing and tiles and reported to the insurance; to get the roof fixed. Everybody was okay; but roof damage occurred. The door lock has since been replaced and my mechanic has spoken to me about a newer 70s style door that piper created with a door lock and push button mechanism which was a better design than the 60s model on my aircraft.
Original NASA ASRS Text
Title: P28A pilot reported several items fell from his aircraft in flight after the baggage door lock failed; allowing the door to open.
Narrative: After liftoff; I climbed to 1;000 feet AGL and departed the field to the south. Once leveling out I heard a swoosh sound and it seemed like the baggage door had opened in flight. I had done a thorough pre-flight and couldn't believe it had opened inadvertently.I immediately returned to the runway and once landing; articles of luggage spilled out on the runway. The door was definitely open.I taxied the plane off the runway and gathered all belongs from the runway. I inspected the door latch and had the cylinder in my hand in two pieces. It had cracked from bouncing down the bumpy runway. The cylinder metal was torn into two pieces and I took pictures and called my mechanic.Unfortunately; one bag had fallen out of the plane with lots of expensive and heavy photographic equipment inside. It was reported to hit a man's roof and cause damage to his roofing and tiles and reported to the insurance; to get the roof fixed. Everybody was okay; but roof damage occurred. The door lock has since been replaced and my mechanic has spoken to me about a newer 70s style door that Piper created with a door lock and push button mechanism which was a better design than the 60s model on my aircraft.
Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.