Plane lands at Buffalo airport after door falls off mid-flight
FAA reviewing plane’s landing at Buffalo Niagara International Airport
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A small plane managed to land safely Tuesday night at Buffalo Niagara International Airport in New York after the pilot "reported losing the left rear passenger door" during flight, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said.
An FAA spokesperson said Tuesday in a statement to FOX Business that the single-engine Diamond DA40 aircraft, which was carrying two people, touched down around 5:30 p.m. ET.
The FAA is now reviewing the incident. There were no reports of injuries.
The Cheektowaga Police Department told WIVB that the pilot reported losing the door while flying over Stiglmeier Park in Cheektowaga, which is a few miles from the airport.
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The Buffalo Niagara International Airport in Cheektowaga, New York, is pictured in February 2009. (Reuters/Gary Wiepert / Reuters Photos)
In an audio recording with air traffic controllers, a voice is heard saying, "We have an emergency, we’re heading back" and "We lost our rear door," the station added.
Police reportedly have not been able to find the door after it fell from the plane.
It is unknown why the door fell off of the plane, which was a non-commercial aircraft.
The Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority told WIVB that the plane landed at the Signature Aviation terminal at the airport.
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A view of Buffalo Niagara International Airport during a weather-related shutdown in December 2022. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)
The incident happened about a month after a door plug panel blew off an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max 9 plane.
The door plug blowout and depressurization incident occurred on Jan. 5, when Flight 1282 was climbing after takeoff from Oregon’s Portland International Airport en route to Ontario, California. At about 16,000 feet, the door plug panel — which covers an emergency exit that is deactivated on planes with lower passenger capacity layouts — blew out, causing the cabin to depressurize.
The baggage claim area at Buffalo Niagara International Airport during the December 2022 shutdown. (Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images / Getty Images)
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Some passengers’ items were blown out of the airliner due to the depressurization and empty seats near the hole in the fuselage sustained damage. The plane safely returned to Portland for an emergency landing and no serious injuries were reported.
FOX Business’ Eric Revell contributed to this report.