Passengers aboard a flight in Brazil were scared for their lives and their safety when the flight’s door flung open and remained stuck mid-air. The incident happened 30 minutes into a journey from Sao Luis to Salvador earlier Monday.
No one was hurt in the incident and the plane made an emergency landing at Hugo da Cunha Machado airport. The video of the incident has gone viral. One passenger filmed the entire ordeal and also the view of the ground down below from the wide-open door.
Integrantes da banda gravaram vídeos do ocorrido. Veja abaixo: https://t.co/aOxrHX5CUr pic.twitter.com/65wLVqiRdz— Aratu On (@aratuonline) June 13, 2023
Separate clips shared by Aratu Online and Sky News shows the aircraft moving through the clouds as the air continues to rush inside the aircraft and objects flapping around passengers.
Barring the person recording the video everyone on board was captured trying to look away from the gaping door on the side of the plane. The person recording also leans at one point to get a good view of the emergency door which has been flung open and captures a steep drop to the green fields below.
The Aviation Safety Network, part of the Flight Safety Foundation, said the passengers were flying aboard a Embraer EMB-110 Bandeirante which took off from São Luís Airport (SBSL) when the rear cargo door opened.
A report by the Daily Mirror said that the pilot calmed the passengers down before making the emergency landing. Emergency crews were on the tarmac already to ensure no one was injured.
A separate report by local news media outlet O Informante said members of the band who play for famous South American singer Tierry were on board the small passenger aircraft. They returned to their hotel after the stomach-churning experience.
They played alongside Tierry at his concert in Sao Luis before the flight. Investigators are examining what went wrong on the aircraft.
The incident reminds of a similar instance where a child and a newborn along with four other passengers survived a sudden loss of power on a plane in Brazil. An emergency parachute ensured that they landed safely after the single-engine Cirrus SR 22 they were aboard managed to drift to the ground safely in March in the Minas Gerais region of Brazil.