Thursday, May 06, 2021

Pilatus PC-12/47, N814WA: Incident occurred May 05, 2021 at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport (KMSP), Hennepin County, Minnesota

Boutique Airlines fires 2 pilots, pulls out of Gogebic Iron County Airport








Ironwood, Michigan - The Gogebic Iron County Airport's only commercial airline, Boutique Airlines, will stop serving their region after an emergency exit door flew off moments before take-off last week.

The incident happened on a flight from Minneapolis to Ironwood, Michigan,  Wednesday, May 5.

"We're not trying to hide or deny anything," said Shawn Simpson, CEO of Boutique Airlines during a Gogebic Iron County Airport board meeting Monday.

Several Boutique Airline representatives listened to the passenger's frightening experiences onboard the aircraft at the meeting.

"It happened so fast, and it was so unusual," said Mike Parra, a Colorado resident who was on board the flight. "We're all looking at each other like did that just really happen."

"I'm sitting there looking at my daughter hanging out this door. Except for the safety strap, she would've been on the floor," said another gentleman at the meeting.

Company representatives responded saying the two pilots on board that flight failed to complete a pre-flight checklist, causing the door to open moments before take-off.

Simpson said both pilots were put on leave until an investigation was complete, and both pilots' employment with the airline was terminated on Sunday.

During the meeting, passengers and county board members expressed frustration over the airlines' lack of immediate response.

"The fact that they can't just call your company or that your company doesn't step up to the line and say this is the right thing to do, we need to take care of these people," said County Board member Brandon Snyder.

On Monday, Boutique Airline reps they plan to resign from their contract with the Gogebic Iron County airport; but did not give an exact reason why.

They will, however, continue to provide services until the airport finds another option.

The San Francisco-based airline claimed Monday they've never had any issues like this before.

According to the Chicago Department of Aviation, on January 26, 2021, a wheel fell off a Boutique Airlines flight headed from Ironwood to Chicago.

No one was hurt in either of these incidents.

Boutique Air also flies out of about three dozen other airports around the country.


Federal Aviation Administration / Flight Standards District Office; Minneapolis, Minnesota

Aircraft aborted takeoff and discovered that a panel from the cargo door was missing. 

Boutique Air Inc


Date: 05-MAY-21
Time: 19:39:00Z
Regis#: N814WA
Aircraft Make: PILATUS
Aircraft Model: PC12
Event Type: INCIDENT
Highest Injury: NONE
Aircraft Missing: No
Damage: UNKNOWN
Activity: ON DEMAND
Flight Phase: TAKEOFF (TOF)
Operation: 135
Aircraft Operator: BOUTIQUE AIR
Flight Number: BTQ834
City: MINNEAPOLIS
State: MINNESOTA




IRONWOOD, Michigan -- A Wakefield, Michigan man plans to take his concerns to the Gogebic County Board after he says an emergency exit door ripped off a plane just moments before his flight from Minneapolis to Ironwood, Michigan was about to take off Wednesday.

Tom Yon said he was seated just feet from the door on what he described as a small, 8-person plane flown by Boutique Airlines, a private aircraft company.

"We were just about to take off, probably going I don't know 100 miles per hour and the door just flew off. There was a loud bang and the door flew off and the noise and the wind and everything," Yon said.

Yon said his carry-on bag was sucked out of the opening, and it was returned to him about an hour later.

He said he was thankful because it could have been much worse.

"It was scary. It was scary. If there would have been a person sitting on the plane with a baby on their lap, I don't know what would have happened," Yon said.

Yon added no one appeared to be hurt.

The Metropolitan Airports Commission confirmed the incident happened around 3 p.m. Wednesday.

They say the plane never actually left the ground after the door came off.

It returned to the gate, and the door was found nearby.

The Commission spokesperson referred us to Boutique Airlines for more details.

KBJR 6 reached out to Boutique Airlines, but we have not heard back.

Yon said he plans to take his concerns to the Gogebic County Board during a public meeting Monday morning.

By the way, Yon and several other passengers on that flight ending up taking a ride-share back to Ironwood, which was a $400 trip.




Tom Yon was a passenger on a Boutique Airlines flight last Wednesday (May 5) when the emergency exit door broke off when leaving the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport. 

Sitting just a few feet away from the exit door, Yon told KBJR 6 during an interview what it was like when the incident happened.

 “We were just about to take off probably going, I don’t know 100 miles per hour, and the door just flew off, a loud bang, and the door flew off and the noise and the wind and everything. I didn’t even see my bag get sucked out of the plane. I got it right here, this bag right here, got sucked right out of the plane. They gave it to me about an hour after take-off.”

According to KBJR 6, Yon said no one was hurt during the flight. The Metropolitan Airports Commission confirmed the incident, and officials said the plane never left the ground after the door broke off.

After the flight returned to the gate, Yon and other passengers decided not to fly and took a ride-share back to Michigan. Yon plans on taking his concerns about the incident to the Gogebic County Board’s public meeting today (May 10).



IRONWOOD, Michigan (KBJR/WLUC) - Imagine sitting on a plane and the aircraft’s door flies off moments before take-off.

That’s exactly what happened to a man from Wakefield on his flight from Minneapolis to Ironwood Wednesday afternoon.

That opening you see in the image above is where the plane’s emergency exit door was. Tom Yon was seated just feet from there on what he described as a small 8-person plane, flown by Boutique Airlines, a private aircraft company. He told KBJR-TV about the moment it happened.

“We were just about to take off probably going, I don’t know 100 miles per hour, and the door just flew off, a loud bang, and the door flew off and the noise and the wind and everything. I didn’t even see my bag get sucked out of the plane. I got it right here, this bag right here, got sucked right out of the plane. They gave it to me about an hour after take-off,” Yon told KBJR-TV during an interview. “It was scary, it was scary. If there would have been a person sitting on the plane with a baby on their lap, I don’t know what would have happened.”

Yon says no one appeared to be hurt. The Metropolitan Airports Commission confirmed the incident happened around 3:00 p.m. May 5. Metropolitan Airports Commission officials say the plane never actually left the ground after the door came off. It returned to the gate at Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport and the door was found nearby.

KBJR-TV reached out to Boutique Airlines but didn’t hear back.

Yon and others plan to take concerns to the Gogebic County Board’s public meeting on Monday morning.

Yon hopes they’ll consider taking action against the airline.