Embraer S A EMB-545 N179SP

Summary

On 3 October 2022 at about 22:40 local time, a Embraer S A EMB-545 registered N179SP, operated by Partee Aviation LLC, was involved in an accident near Houston, Texas, United States. 4 people were on board and nobody was injured. The aircraft was substantially damaged. The NTSB has published a probable cause for this accident; it is quoted in full below.

Date

3 October 2022 at 22:40

Classification

Accident

Location

Houston, Texas, United States

Coordinates

29.6455, -95.2784

Aircraft

Embraer S A EMB-545

Registration

N179SP

Category

Airplane

Engines

2

Operator

Partee Aviation LLC

Operating rule

Part 91: General Aviation

Purpose of flight

Business

Phase of flight

Not recorded

Route

Houston → Big Spring

Aircraft damage

Substantial

Weather

VMC

Light

Day

NTSB number

CEN23LA003

Nobody was injured.

The crew failed to ensure the main entry door was locked before departure. Contributing to the accident was a corroded/jammed door sensor that provided an erroneous locked indication to the crew alerting system.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record. This site does not paraphrase or interpret it.

Read the full NTSB narrative

The two pilots departed on a business flight with two passengers and observed that the airplane did not pressurize during the initial climb out. As the climb continued, the crew observed a door open warning on the crew alerting system (CAS). The pilot in command (PIC), seated in the right seat, got out of his seat to check the door and attempted to push the handle down toward the locked position, but stated that “it kept coming up.” About 14 seconds after the PIC got out of his seat, the main cabin door opened inflight, which resulted in substantial damage to the door and fuselage. The PIC returned to his seat and commented several times that the second in command (SIC) had not secured the door. The flight returned to land without further incident. Postaccident examination revealed no anomalies that would have prevented the door from a normal sequence of closing, latching, and locking. A corroded/jammed locked sensor assembly was observed that erroneously indicated a locked door to the CAS when the door was actually only latched but not locked. However, the two visual locked indications on the door functioned properly, which was consistent with the crew not fully closing the door or observing the unsafe (red) visual locked indicators. During climb out, the aerodynamic forces on the door and/or airplane vibration likely caused the target for closed door sensor to move away from the sensor, which triggered the CAS door open warning. The aerodynamic forces on the door, airplane vibration, and/or the PIC’s handle movement likely allowed the door to open inflight.

Quoted verbatim from the NTSB record.