Date: 201208
Local time of day: 1801-2400
Location: ZZZ.Airport, US
Flight conditions: VMC
Weather elements / visibility: 10
Light: Night
Aircraft: Cessna Single Piston Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operator: Personal
Operating under: Part 91
Flight plan: VFR
Mission: Personal
Flight phase: Cruise
Airspace: Class E ZZZ
ATC / advisory: TRACON ZZZ
Aircraft component: Exterior Pax/Crew Door
Component problem: Malfunctioning
Reporter organization: Personal
Reporter function: Pilot Flying; Single Pilot
Reporter qualification: Flight Crew Private
Human factors: Training / Qualification; Distraction; Human-Machine Interface
Anomaly: Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical
Detector: Person Flight Crew
When detected: In-flight
Result: Flight Crew Returned To Departure Airport; General Declared Emergency
Contributing factors: Procedure; Human Factors; Aircraft
Primary problem: Human Factors

Narrative: I was on a VFR night flight. I was trimming for straight and level flight and adjusting mixture when the left door seemed to vanish in an instant. I was startled but never lost control of the aircraft. Since the door is hinged at the top; I reached out to pull it back down but was not able to touch any part of the door. I called TRACON and reported an emergency; that the door had come off. I was reversing course and returning to my departure airport. I also reported that I had the airport in sight. TRACON advised that I should call when I was on the ground. Throughout this time of reacting to the event; I did not lose sight of my training to aviate; navigate; and communicate.Other than some turbulence inside the cabin; the aircraft handled completely normally through approach and descent. On final; I did notice that it took more power to maintain a safe airspeed; but that was still well within the capabilities of the aircraft. The landing was normal.After landing; I called TRACON and reported that I was safe. Then I discovered that the door had not actually been torn from the aircraft. It was still fully attached; but folded back on itself. I had not been able to see that from inside the cabin since it was dark. There was no damage to or involvement of any control surface.The next morning I reported the event to the FBO that owns the aircraft. I learned then that another of their C162s had the same problem some months before. I also learned that a secondary latch had been installed on the doors of the C-162s because this had been a recurring problem; this problem resulted in a Service Bulletin from Cessna. While I was aware of the secondary latch; I had not latched it; because I was not aware of the severe criticality of using the secondary latch. I had thought that the built-in latches in the door should have been sufficient. I was wrong.




Synopsis: The pilot of a C-162 was shocked when the cabin door appeared to burst open and disappear on a night flight. He declared an emergency and returned safely to his departure airport where he learned the door was still attached but had folded back out of reach. He also learned he had failed to secure a secondary latching mechanism installed as a result of a Service Bulletin addressing similar previous incidents.