Passengers aboard a domestic aircraft got the scare of their lives yesterday morning after the plane’s door flew open three minutes into the flight from Montego Bay to Kingston, the Observer was told last night.

A frightened male passenger, who asked not to be named, related the events in a telephone interview, describing how the small plane vibrated violently during the ordeal at about 1,000 feet.

According to the man, the plane, which was also occupied by two children and five other adults, had to return to the Sangster International Airport where workers used pieces of rope and paper to close the door – both from inside and out – while the passengers waited in their seats.

The passenger explained that the person closing the door on the inside had to exit the plane through the pilot’s door.

But even more alarming, he said, was the explanation given to the already frightened passengers by the pilot, that they had forgotten to close the door properly.

“When the plane took off again for Kingston, everybody was nervous about the flight because we were there wondering what else they may have forgotten to do since they forgot to close the door,” the passenger said.

“If you go and look at the plane, the window at the door had a big crack on it as well as my window,” he said.