An Orkney pilot told yesterday of the hair-raising moment when a door fell off his aircraft as he flew at 100mph above the Pentland Firth.
Thomas Sinclair, 66, said he saw the bubble-shaped doors on his two-seater light aircraft bulge out before the one on his side was torn off and hit the tail of the plane at high speed.
His eight-year-old grandson, Andrew Swanney, of Kirkwall, was a passenger and his door was also starting to bulge.
Mr Sinclair, of Holm, said: “Something caught my eye and I manoeuvred a wee bit and then one of the doors just went. It was a wee bit alarming at first but it could have been worse.
“When the door left the plane we were flying at 100mph so it wasn’t hanging about when it struck the tailplane.
“There was a bit of damage to the tailplane and it could have been very serious if that was badly damaged.
“I have a very similar type of plane that can be flown without the doors so it wasn’t a complete surprise. It was quite flyable albeit a wee bit draughty for a time. It handled OK.
“My grandson was there so it was quite an exciting day for him.”
The flight, on September 8 last year, was one of the first times Mr Sinclair has flown the Zenair CH 701SP home-build two-seater aircraft which he bought from a friend.
He said: “The bubble doors are made by an American manufacturer and are provided as an optional extra. It was the first time they had been flown in this country and they proved not fit for purpose.
“They are fisheye doors and are great because you can look straight down but the shape is aerodynamically unfit and they want to pull out of the aircraft. The authorities have decided now that they won’t be allowing them to be fitted.”
Mr Sinclair has been flying since 1975 and owns the Lamb Holm airstrip and has built several light aircraft.
He said the incident had not deterred him or his grandson from flying.
He said: “We were flying to a strip near Tain when the door came off and we turned back to Orkney, got in another plane and went back up.”
An Air Accidents Investigation Branch report into the incident states: “The Light Aircraft Association regards the bubble doors as an unapproved modification and will be writing to CH 701 owners to point this out. They may also highlight the situation in their magazine Light Aviation.”