Originally Posted by
DaveReidUK
Thanks for that - I hadn't seen the latest video, which makes everything clearer. Mea culpa.
I note that all 4 bolts are retained by castle nuts and cotter pins (more usually known as split pins). Had those been correctly assembled, I can't see any way that the door plug could have let go. Incorrect assembly could be any of:
a) omitting the split pins
b) omitting the nuts and therefore the split pins
c) omitting the bolts and therefore the nuts and split pins
at any or all of the 4 bolt locations.
Any thoughts?
Looking at the Chris Brady’s still of the outside of the aircraft it can be seen that both hinge posts are still attached to the floor. The hinge guide, the big stop washer, pair of lock nuts and probably the lift assist spring are missing from the forward hinge. The rear hinge appears to have some of these parts still attached (including door bracket ?)
If the stop bolts on one or both of the hinge pillars were not present then the lift assist springs would be continuously trying to lift the plug and disengage the roller pin from the guide track. If the stop bolts on the guide tracks were effective then this shouldn’t matter but the departure of the plug suggests that they were not. From the photos it is difficult to gauge the angle of the guide tracks but it might be possible that the internal pressure force on the plug would result in an upward component adding to the load on the roller pin?
Thoughts?
Acknowledge Chris Brady’s info.