User:BritAirman/BA-draft

British Airways Flight 2157 (BA2157), a Boeing 777 (Boeing 777-236B, G-VIIA), made an emergency landing at London Gatwick Airport on 26 June 2003 shortly after take off. An access panel door on the right side of the fuselage had been incorrectly closed and sheared off while the aircraft was climbing to cruising altitude en route to Antigua. The door fractured two windows on impact and a fragment pierced the fuselage and entered the cabin, but did not cause explosive decompression as the aircraft had only reached 6,000 ft. When the door hit the ground it narrowly missed two people out walking in Reigate, Surrey. The crew decided not to follow normal fuel dumping procedures and instead opted for an emergency landing when unusual noises were heard and the door fragment was found inside the cabin close to the site of impact. Despite being heavy, the plane landed without incident and all 14 crew and 272 passengers were evacuated by the emergency services unhurt.

A subsequent investigation into the incident led to the conclusion that only one of the thirteen catches normally used to secure the panel had been fastened. This deviation from standard operating procedures had not been noted in the pre-flight inspections. The Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB) recommended that improvements in maintenance procedures should be considered to prevent recurrence (Safety Recommendation 2004-77). To date, this is the only report of a non-explosive incident in which an external structure has fallen off an airliner during flight and then reentered the main cabin through the wall of the fuselage as a result of forces of airflow.

As reported in The Scotsman (Edinburgh) on 10 March 2005, the airline explained that it had made 'several changes to its maintenance systems and procedures' starting immediately after the failure. Further, the airline reported on 9 March 2005, "We note the one recommendation in the AAIB report, which we co-operated with." The subsequent Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) Follow-up Action on Occurrence Report on 12 April 2005 marked the incident closed.