# NTSB investigations: Cargo/baggage doors

NTSB aviation accident and incident investigations since 1962: the probable cause, findings, aircraft, crew, weather and docket of each, linked to the FAA registry and the FAA’s own reports.

## Latest cases

- [NTSB ERA25FA201](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA25FA201.md): Piper PA32RT · Yulee, FL · Accident · 1 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · May 10, 2025 · N30689 · Destroyed
  > The pilot’s exceedance of the airplane’s critical angle of attack during takeoff, which resulted in a stall/spin at an altitude too low for recovery. Contributing to the accident was the opening of the nose baggage door and subsequent distraction of the pilot…
- [NTSB ERA22FA095](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA22FA095.md): Mooney M20J · Jacksonville, FL · Accident · 2 fatal · Class 3 · Field · Final report · Dec 26, 2021 · N3707H · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s failure to maintain airspeed during initial climb, which resulted in an aerodynamic stall/spin. Contributing was the pilot’s likely distraction due to the opening of the baggage door.
- [NTSB ERA21LA371](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ERA21LA371.md): Mooney M20K · New Shoreham, RI · Accident · No injuries · Class 4 · Limited · Final report · Jul 27, 2021 · N110CG · Substantial damage
  > The pilot’s improper decision to reject the takeoff at an excessive speed, resulting in a runway excursion and collision with a fence. Contributing to the accident was the pilot’s failure to lock the door as required by the placarded door closing procedures.
- [NTSB CEN17FA045](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN17FA045.md): Cessna 340 · Fargo, ND · Accident · 1 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Dec 1, 2016 · N123KK · Destroyed
  > The loose fuel fitting on the combustion heater that leaked a lean fuel-air mixture into the nose baggage compartment. The mixture was most likely ignited by the combustion heater, blowing off the nose baggage compartment doors and starting an in-flight fire.
- [NTSB CEN16FA261](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN16FA261.md): Piper PA 32R-300 · Houston, TX · Accident · 4 fatal · Field investigation · Final report · Jul 8, 2016 · N32KK · Destroyed
  > The pilot's failure to maintain adequate airspeed after becoming distracted by the open baggage door while operating in the airport traffic pattern, which resulted in the airplane exceeding its critical angle of attack and experiencing an aerodynamic stall at…
- [NTSB CEN12IA592](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/CEN12IA592.md): British Aerospace BAE Jetstream 3101 · Kansas City, MO · Incident · No injuries · Incident investigation · Final report · Aug 29, 2012 · N695MA · Minor damage
  > The flight crew’s failure to ensure that the cargo door was properly fastened before departure.
- [NTSB ANC09CA048](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC09CA048.md): Piper PA-32-301 · Birchwood, AK · Accident · No injuries · Data collection · Final report · May 16, 2009 · N8374T · Substantial damage
  > The failure of maintenance personnel to properly maintain the cargo door latch, resulting in an in-flight opening and separation of the cargo door, and substantial damage to the horizontal stabilator when it was struck by remnants of the cargo door.
- [NTSB ANC09LA017](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC09LA017.md): Cessna 207A · Hoonah, AK · Accident · No injuries · Limited investigation · Final report · Dec 31, 2008 · N39AK · Substantial damage
  > The pilot's failure to ensure that the aft cargo door was properly latched and locked prior to departure, which resulted in an in-flight opening of the aft cargo door and subsequent damage to the airplane.
- [NTSB ANC08MA038](https://openairdocs.org/ntsb/ANC08MA038.md): Piper PA-31-350 · Kodiak, AK · Accident · 6 fatal · Major investigation · Final report · Jan 5, 2008 · N509FN · Substantial damage
  > The failure of company maintenance personnel to ensure that the airplane's nose baggage door latching mechanism was properly configured and maintained, resulting in an inadvertent opening of the nose baggage door in flight. Contributing to the accident were…

## The whole list in SQL

Runs in DuckDB 1.2 or later on the release's Parquet files over HTTPS:

```sql
SELECT c."ntsbNumber", c."eventDate", c."eventType", c."eventCity", c."eventStateOrRegion", a.n_number, a."aircraftMake", a."aircraftModel", c."highestInjuryLevel", c."totalFatal", c."completionStatus", c.report_url
FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_case_detail.parquet' c LEFT JOIN 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_aircrafts.parquet' a ON a.case_mkey = c."mKey" AND a.position = 1
WHERE c."mKey" IN (SELECT f.case_mkey FROM 'https://openairdocs.org/data/latest/ntsb_findings.parquet' f WHERE starts_with(f."findingCode", '01035230'))
ORDER BY c."eventDate" DESC, c."ntsbNumber" DESC
```

This list as a web page: https://openairdocs.org/ntsb-findings/01035230/cases

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