Hawker Beechcraft 1900D, Page, Ariz., March 26, 2008–The NTSB concluded that the flight crew’s unprofessional behavior and deviation from standard operating procedures was the cause of the in-flight emergency when the aft cargo door came open and the crew had to return to Page Municipal Airport to land.
While the Great Lakes Aviation Beech 1900 was taxiing for takeoff from Page, the flight crew talked about personal matters and “did not follow sterile cockpit regulations.” The first officer was stating and verifying the checklists, as well as taxiing the airplane, instead of following the company’s standard operating procedure of having the checklists called out by one crewmember and verified by the other. They likely did not notice the cockpit light indicating that the cargo door was not closed and locked. The pilot spotted the light seconds after rotation.
The airplane sustained minor damage but there were no injuries.