Mooney baggage door impales itself on elevator...

dans2992 said:
So, ignore dramatic video comments, but... is this a typical failure mode for the baggage door on a Mooney?

I’ve had my baggage door pop on a PA28 and a Comanche. Both times it stayed mostly shut and was just “annoying”.

https://www.facebook.com/611371138943810/posts/3191197037627861/?vh=e&extid=UxrTPdCEdXJFlkuG
Click to expand...

You have to look at where the hinge is. On Cessnas and Pipers the hinge is on the front side of the door, so it just will pop open a little bit but the slipstream will keep it relatively closed. On the Mooney the door hinges up like a gull wing door. The slipstream grabs that door, it may open violently and tear off of the hinge.
 
Good job on the pilot. But oh my word! The captions! "The plane veers out of control!" (Pilot turns to look for pace to land) "The plane could slip into a DOWNSPIN at any moment!" (That one wasn't covered in my curriculum. Yours?)

That would be startling to say the least. But excellent job of flying the plane and sorting it out on the ground. Nice landing as well.
 
There’s a thread about this over on Mooneyspace.com. There was a missing hinge pin, also the emergency release was missing a cotter pin. Maintenance induced failure is what it looks like.
 
Was a Mooney engineer for several years, most often they may or not get bent up, but they do not break off. Very rare for them to depart the aircraft (only one I heard of conclusively was this one, but I assume there have been others. Just saying this was the only one I Know departed the plane other than hearsay.)
 
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