Baggage handlers blamed for emergency landing

An investigation into an Eagle Air flight, which was forced to make an emergency landing in Auckland after a cargo door opened during take off, has found that baggage handlers forgot to lock the door.

The Eagle Air, which is a subsidiary of Air New Zealand, Beech 1900D plane, was heading to Whangarei from Auckland, on April 9 this year, when it was forced to make on emergency landing after the rear cargo door opened.

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) investigation into the flight found that baggage handlers had been forgetting to lock cargo doors, The Northern Advocate reported.

The investigation said staff had not been trained properly in "cargo door button operation".

It said a practice of leaving the door unlocked just in case bags came late increased risk that the doors would be left unlocked.

Leaving the door unlocked could have caused a major problem if the door had broken off and smashed into the tail of the plane.

Eagle Air spokeswoman Tracy Mills said actions had been taken to ensure the mistake would not be repeated.

- NZPA