A report into an incident that triggered an emergency landing for a plane carrying 10 passengers has found the crew failed to properly carry out checks before it took off.
The Eagle Air plane was heading from Auckland to Whangarei in April last year when its rear cargo door opened shortly after take-off.
The aircraft returned to Auckland Airport and landed safely. No-one was injured and there was only minor damage to the plane.
The Transport Accident Investigation Commission's report says when the plane was being prepared for departure, the loader closed the cargo door but failed to fully lock it.
It says the first officer was distracted during the final check and didn't notice, and the captain did not adequately confirm that the door had been visually checked before take-off.
