By Vic Syracuse, EAA Lifetime 180848
This piece originally ran in Vic’s Checkpoints column in the June 2025 issue of EAA Sport Aviation magazine.
From my last few columns, you’ve probably figured out I’m on a safety kick, and you’d be right! There’s been a few more accidents since my last column that have hit home in a couple of different ways and leave me bothered. We call them accidents because we don’t really plan on them happening, but I wonder if we could either prevent them or have a different outcome through better planning and training. I’d like to think so, and that’s one of the reasons I’ve always read and studied aviation accidents ever since I started flying. I’d rather learn from someone else’s situation than be a statistic myself. I’ve had similar experiences to two of the accidents.
This month I will cover one of the accidents, which seems to have been caused by a door not being fully latched on an RV-10. During the climb-out, the pilot radioed that he needed an immediate turnback for a landing. Unfortunately, the aircraft crashed while turning from downwind to the base leg, killing both occupants, injuring many people on the ground, and causing substantial property damage. We will certainly wait for the NTSB final report, but so far there are enough credible witness statements to help us understand the principal cause.
A witness stated they could see that the pilot’s door was down (closed) during the run-up, but that the forward part of the door was not flush with the fuselage, which could be caused by the door pins not being fully engaged.
A few years ago, in another RV-10, I lost a friend in a similar situation. The co-pilot’s door came open at liftoff, and the pilot tried to close the door. The aircraft crashed in front of his family, killing the pilot. He had just recently completed the aircraft, and it was still in Phase I flight testing.
I don’t mean to be judgmental here, but I sometimes wonder if we are being too dependent upon warning systems to keep us out of trouble. I remember when I was flying for Atlantic Southeast Airlines that you could associate many of the items in the checklist with notable aviation accidents. Specific to the RV-10, there is a warning circuit provided in the kit with lights on the instrument panel to inform you of an open door. There has also been a service bulletin issued by Van’s Aircraft for a safety latch to be installed on the doors. Personally, I think all of these have potential failure points that can be overcome by good checklist procedures.
As an example, the warning circuit provided by Van’s has a magnetic reed sensor at the forward and rear engagement pins of both doors. Initial findings reveal that the California RV-10 had wired only one sensor on each door, both at the rear pins.
In RV-10s a potential failure point is that whenever the doors are open the warning lights are illuminated when installed as per the plans. For a taxi on a hot day, the lights can be illuminated for a long time, potentially allowing the pilot to ignore them. For this reason, on my RV-10, I added a microswitch to the throttle so that the door warning circuit is only energized when the throttle is advanced, such as for takeoff. The big bright lights are attention getters when needed the most.
I have inspected RV-10s after a door has come off in flight and they have successfully landed. While there was damage to the horizontal stabilizer, including some bending and twisting of the aft tail cone, the aircraft was controllable. The wind noise was described as quite loud and distracting. In the case of the Fullerton accident, the door did not appear to depart the aircraft until the turn to base leg, so it could be that the pilot was distracted in trying to keep the door closed. In the case of the second RV-10, I do believe that in reaching across the cabin to close the co-pilot’s door, the pilot may have inadvertently put too much pressure on the rudder pedal, with the resultant loss of control.
The common theme between both accidents is a failure to fly the aircraft. In multiple cases, the RV-10 has been proven capable of flight after a door has departed the aircraft. Perhaps failure to follow a checklist was a contributing factor. In our RV-10, we always call “doors closed and locked” before entering the runway. But I have discovered the hard way that even a verbal response is not always adequate.
During one of our early flights in our first RV-10, I was taking my brother-in-law for a flight. He was a rather large guy at the time. When I called “doors closed and locked,” he responded in the affirmative. I failed to physically verify. During climb-out, I noticed the cabin noise seemed a lot louder than normal, and I quickly realized his door was not properly latched at the rear pin, even though the warning lights were not illuminated. I immediately slowed the airplane and asked for a return to the runway. We held the door VERY tightly, and an uneventful landing was completed. I discovered that the magnets on the end of the door pins were strong enough to close the reed switches even when not properly inserted, so I readjusted them to prevent a future erroneous indication. However, we have since changed the checklist such that each person visually cross-checks the opposite side door to verify it is properly secured.
With all the electronics many of us have in our aircraft today, there are a lot of warning systems, and I fear many pilots are becoming too dependent upon them working properly. So, it begs the question: How do we ensure we aren’t becoming complacent?
How many pilots take the time to play out “what if” scenarios with their aircraft? On many of my longer solo trips doing prebuys or designated airworthiness representative inspections, I often find myself playing this game. For one, it gives me something to do, and sometimes I even discover that I might need to change something. As an example, I wouldn’t recommend simulating an electronic flight instrument system (EFIS) failure by pulling the circuit breaker, since it is usually providing information to the transponder, autopilot, and GPS navigator. I have found that I can use the dimming circuit during the daytime to simulate a failed EFIS. I then pull the circuit breaker for the autopilot and fly the aircraft on the backup EFIS.
Keeping the aircraft right side up on the backup EFIS is the easy part, at least in VMC conditions. Then to simulate a cascading failure, I dim the GPS navigator. Now I must fly the aircraft and figure out a way to keep track of my position. Performing this scenario has taught me to never go into IMC without having a backup that is not part of the panel, such as an iPad with ForeFlight. However, there I discovered another false sense of security, as depending upon altitude, the iPad may be getting its GPS position from the GPS navigator or EFIS. Hmmm. So, another GPS input is needed, such as a Sentry.
The bottom line is that it pays to run through various scenarios in your own aircraft regularly so that you are ready when and if they do happen for real. Some scenarios, such as door openings, can happen unexpectedly and rapidly and can bring other distractions with them, such as loud noises or visual distractions. It’s amazing how many crashes occur due to open baggage doors, none of which affected the controllability of the aircraft.
Some failures are insidious, such as electrical failures, and they can quickly cascade if not addressed properly. Unless the failures are catastrophic in nature, the first reaction needs to be to fly the airplane. And unless you have practiced and prepared for them, the initial reaction can be one of shock and inaction, which is never desirable when at the controls of an aircraft. It can put a severe damper on the fun factor. Don’t be that pilot!
Vic Syracuse, EAA Lifetime 180848, is a commercial pilot, A&P/IA mechanic, designated airworthiness representative, and EAA flight advisor and technical counselor. He has built 11 aircraft and has logged more than 11,000 hours in 75 different types. Vic founded Base Leg Aviation, has authored books on maintenance and prebuy inspections, and posts videos weekly on his YouTube channel. He also volunteers as a Young Eagles pilot.