An airplane reportedly lost a door as it lifted off from North Las Vegas Airport, turning a routine departure into a startling aviation emergency and reviving an unnerving question for the busy general-aviation field: how does a passenger door come off in the first place?
FOX5 Vegas published an exclusive video report Friday evening saying a pilot reported the door fell off during takeoff at North Las Vegas Airport. The online item identifies reporter Jaclyn Schultz and notes that a similar incident happened at the airport two years earlier, but it does not identify the aircraft model or say whether anyone was injured.
A Known Door Problem Hangs Over The Latest Report
That missing model detail matters. A Canadian airworthiness directive issued in 2025 for Diamond DA40 family aircraft cited several passenger-door separations, saying some incidents were linked to improper latching or attempts to latch the door in flight while the causes of others remained unknown, according to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency. The directive required revised flight-manual procedures along with placards and inspections of the latching and safety-hook mechanisms.
In March 2024, FOX5 previously reported that a single-engine Diamond DA40 lost its left rear passenger door shortly after departing North Las Vegas Airport. The FAA said two people were on board and landed safely, while the station reported the aircraft climbed to roughly 3,000 feet before turning back.
North Las Vegas Airport Is Built For Smaller Aircraft
The latest report is unfolding at an airport that handles primarily general, business and corporate aviation rather than the large commercial traffic associated with Harry Reid International Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration describes North Las Vegas Airport as being just northwest of the Strip, with its own Class D airspace beneath the Las Vegas Class B airspace.
For now, several basic questions remain open: what aircraft was involved, where the door came down, whether it was recovered and whether regulators have opened a formal investigation. Those answers will determine whether this was an isolated maintenance failure or another warning sign involving a vulnerable aircraft door system.
