KRALENDIJK – An cabin door which unintended shot open on a flight from Aruba to Curaçao has caused fear and indignation among passengers of the airline Divi Divi Air.

The incident, which occurred on Monday, August 14th, only made headlines this weekend via social media after a passenger on the flight shared her story on a radio station. The female passenger said she was upset about the fact that Divi Divi provided little post-incident support to the passengers, and did not publicize the incident, which experts describe as quite a serious one. 

Divi Divi only released a press statement last Sunday afternoon, nearly a week after the incident, following significant reactions to the news on platforms like Facebook and the news site Awor.nu. According to the airline, they chose not to publicize the incident earlier because the civil aviation authority CCAA is still conducting an investigation into the precise circumstances of the incident. 

Discrepancies

There are discrepancies between the passenger’s account and the airline’s explanation. The involved passenger stated that the airplane landed in Curaçao with the door still open, while passengers on the flight were trying to keep it closed by pulling on two cables attached to the door. 

However, Divi Divi mentions that the pilots of the flight received a warning in the cockpit that the door was unlocked for some time, but it was closed again during landing. The airline also seems to attribute the incident to a passenger’s action. “We cannot reach any other conclusion than that a passenger inadvertently shifted a handle, causing the door to open,” Divi Divi stated. The airline expressed regret over the passengers’ fright but also emphasized that there was no immediate danger to passenger safety. 

The incident occurred on an evening flight when the DHC 6-300 aircraft had already begun its descent. 

You can read the full Divi Divi statement here: