According to an online report by the “Salzburger Nachrichten”, the door of the aircraft – which is also the boarding staircase – opened shortly after take-off. The plane touched down on the runway again four minutes later. Nobody was injured in the incident. A private user’s Cessna Citation XLS was on its way to Germany.
The twin-engine jet with an Austrian aircraft registration number took off towards the north at around 8.50 a.m. According to eyewitness reports, the door was open and protruded from the fuselage. “The pilot noticed the defect immediately after takeoff, radioed the tower, flew a loop and landed safely again,” confirmed Markus Pohanka, spokesman for Austro Control, the incident. After touching down on the runway, the machine rolled back to the hangar on its own.
According to Pohanka, it was a so-called “return landing”. Air traffic controllers initiate corresponding procedures in which other aircraft are queued up or diverted on approach. As Austro Control confirmed, there were two pilots but no passengers on board the machine.
As airport spokesman Alexander Klaus said to APA, the airport fire brigade was also alerted, as is usual in such cases. In addition, the aircraft accident commission was informed, which now has to clarify the reason for the open door.
Source: Nachrichten
