Stair door comes open during Air Borealis flight along Labrador coast

There was a moment of fear and confusion in the air over Hopedale when the stairdoor of an Air Borealis twin otter plane came partway open minutes after takeoff Wednesday.

Flight 961 had just taken off from Hopedalewhen the door opened up, said Anita Rich, who on the plane travelling for work.

"I was two seats up from the back and I heard someone bawling, 'The door is open, the door is open! Take a picture, take a picture!'" Rich said.

There was quite a bit of wind up there, she said.

"That's what made it scary."

Flight 961 is Air Borealis' regular run up the north coast of Labrador, leaving from Goose Bay in the morning, then stopping in Rigolet,Makkovik, Natuashish and then Nain. The plane then heads back to Goose Bay from Nain.

The door that came open has stairs on one side and hinges at the bottom, folding out of the plane to be a staircase. Two cables connect either side of the stairs to the sides of the door.

Flight 961 passengers got the door closed again by pulling on those cables, Rich said.

Back on the plane again

Most of the people on the plane even the three kids stayed calm, Rich said, and the door was tugged shut fairly quickly.

The plane turned around and flew back to Hopedaleso it could be checked out by a mechanic, who was flown out from Goose Bay.

That took about an hour and a half, and then everyone was loaded back onto the same plane to take off again, she said.

• Navigating the North Coast

The whole ordeal has made her grateful she regularly chooses to sit over the wing and a little more uneasy about flying.

"It's still on my mind, it's a lot to take in," she said. "Hopefully in the coming weeks we find out what would happen."

Air Borealis said in a statement that the plane was checked, cleared and able to continue its routes.

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