CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. — At last word Cheektowaga Police are still trying to find the door to a small plane that apparently fell off shortly after takeoff from Buffalo Niagara International Airport on Monday evening.
Officers say they had got a call around 6 PM that a small plane, carrying the pilot and a passenger, had lost its rear left side door while flying over Stiglmeier Park.
According to public flight data, the single-engine aircraft took off from the airport and several minutes into the flight reported the emergency.
"We have an emergency, we're heading back," the pilot said to air traffic control. "We lost our rear door."
BNIA emergency responders were dispatched along the runway as a precaution, according to the air traffic control recording of the incident.
According to police the plane landed safely and parked near the Signature Aviation terminal. Signature Aviation confirms the plane left and returned to their terminal area Monday evening.
The Federal Aviation Administration is now investigating the incident to determine how and why fell off and if there are any other safety issues.
The FAA Registration shows the plane is a Diamond Aircraft DA-40 model which is a four-seater aircraft built from composite materials. There is a hatch or door located on the left side of the fuselage behind the cockpit. The plane has a ceiling of just over 16,000 feet but it was apparently much lower at the time as it had just left the airport several minutes before.
Channel 2 actually had video of the aircraft with the registration number N568CA. It was used ironically as a backdrop for a story from last June when a flight instructor from On Core Aviation was interviewed about small plane safety after a series of crashes. The plane registration is tied to an address at the Rochester Airport where On Core also has an operation base. A holding company linked to a Hamburg resident is then listed as the owner.
No injuries or property damage were reported.
If you have any information, about where the door could be, please call the Cheektowaga Police Dispatch at (716)-686-3500.
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