FAA Investigates After Plane Door Detaches Mid-Air in Las Vegas
A small training aircraft lost its door shortly after taking off from North Las Vegas Airport, prompting an FAA investigation and drawing new attention to a pattern of similar incidents involving the same manufacturer at the same airport.
The incident happened around 11 a.m. on June 3, when a pilot alerted air traffic control to trouble immediately after departure. "The whole door broke off, or part of it," the pilot reported, according to air traffic control audio obtained by Fox5 Las Vegas. Air traffic control cleared the plane to land, and the aircraft touched down safely; FlightAware data showed the entire flight lasted just six minutes. Crew members were later heard on the recording locating and recovering the detached door.
The aircraft involved was a Diamond Aircraft DA-42, according to Fox5. The FAA confirmed it is investigating the incident but has not released additional details.
A Recurring Problem at the Same Airport
This is not the first time a door has detached from a Diamond aircraft shortly after takeoff from North Las Vegas Airport. In March 2024, a single-engine Diamond DA 40 landed safely after losing its left rear passenger door mid-flight, with two people aboard at the time. That plane, registered to a Colorado Springs-based company, reached an altitude of roughly 800 feet before the pilot turned back and landed.
Fox5's reporting on the more recent incident noted "striking similarities" between the two cases: the planes involved share the same manufacturer, the same out-of-state owner, and the same on-site manager at North Las Vegas Airport.
Adding to the pattern, the FAA notified pilots on May 13 of a "proposed rule" concerning the DA 40 after receiving "several" reports of doors detaching from that model as well.
Why These Planes Are So Common at the Airport
Aviation attorney Jeff Lustick explained why Diamond aircraft are so frequently seen at North Las Vegas Airport in the first place. "Diamond Aircraft is one of the best-selling training aircraft in North America and in Europe," Lustick said. "It's a fiberglass airplane. It is fuel efficient. The flight characteristics are just perfect for teaching people how to fly at all levels."
Lustick also weighed in on the safety risk posed by a detached door during flight. "That door is pretty hefty, and weighs about 25 pounds," Lustick said of a prior incident. "If you drop a 25 pound object from a substantial amount of distance, maybe 1,000 feet over the ground, it can land on top of a car. It could have injured or potentially harmed someone."
Manufacturer Declines to Comment
Fox5 reported that it made repeated attempts over several weeks to reach Diamond Aircraft, which is headquartered in Austria with manufacturing operations in Canada, before finally reaching someone by phone at the company's Canadian sales office. That representative said the company was aware of the DA 42 incident but had "no comment" to offer.
Lustick said he hopes incidents like this become less frequent going forward. "Hopefully, we'll stop seeing this happen in Diamond Aircraft," he said, "but this is exactly how the system" is designed to work, through investigation and regulatory follow-up after incidents are reported.
The FAA's investigation into the incident remains ongoing.
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