Door Of Her Piper Aztec Blew Open In Rough Air

"Are you going to live or die?"

New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark said that thought raced through her mind as she was shaken and bruised Wednesday when the door of her chartered aircraft blew open and the aircraft began a sudden, steep dive.

Clark's Piper Aztec was on a flight from Rotorua to Wellington when it hit the unexpected turbulence. Prime Minister Helen Clark said she was in the cabin of the aircraft, doing paperwork, when the rough air literally lifted her out of her seat. She said the only thing that kept her from flying about the cabin was her seatbelt.

"With my head in papers all of a sudden there seems to be a lot of noise and the plane plunging -- even with your belt on you go up and my arm crashed down on a piece of metal on a window sill," Clark told Australia's Daily Telegraph.

Her arm bruised, Clark had another problem to contend with -- the door of the aircraft popped open. Two police officers, among four others traveling with the prime minister, leaned across Clark, grabbed the door handle and held it shut. The pilot issued an emergency call to Wellington, then brought the plane in safely. The two officers hung onto the door until the aircraft safely landed.

"I've never had a landing before with the plane door open and two policemen hanging off it so it didn't fly right off," she told the Aussie newspaper. "When the plane plunges like that obviously it is quite shocking. When you see the door can't close you know that it is a serious incident. I think everyone's a little bit shaken, but (the officers) performed superbly."

The aircraft is owned by Mountain Air, a New Zealand charter company. "All we are aware of is that our company was conducting a charter flight and just prior to descending to Wellington the door popped open," Managing Director Keith McKenzie told the Telegraph. "We are conducting an investigation to ascertain what caused the problem. Emergency was declared as a precaution and we are now obviously analysing what has created this problem."

FMI: www.mountainair.co.nz, www.primeminister.govt.nz