Columbia 400 pilot reported that a cabin door detached from the aircraft on takeoff; resulting in a ...

Attributes
ACN	1707157
Time
Date	201912
Local Time Of Day	1201-1800
Place
Locale Reference	ZZZ.Airport
State Reference	US
Environment
Flight Conditions	VMC
Light	Daylight
Aircraft 1
Make Model Name	Lancair Columbia
Operating Under FAR Part	Part 91
Flight Phase	Initial Climb
Route In Use	None
Flight Plan	VFR
Component
Aircraft Component	Door
Person 1
Function	Instructor Pilot Flying
Qualification	Flight Crew Instrument Flight Crew Multiengine Flight Crew Commercial Flight Crew Flight Instructor
Experience	Flight Crew Last 90 Days 53 Flight Crew Total 3320 Flight Crew Type 50
Events
Anomaly	Aircraft Equipment Problem Critical Inflight Event / Encounter Other / Unknown

Narrative:

I was giving a demonstration flight to a person who had never flown a columbia 400. The person was in the left seat; I was in the right. I showed him how to latch the door; and during the taxi and run-up I never saw a 'door open' annunciation on the panel; which should show up when any of the aircraft's doors are not latched. The person said his door was closed and latched; and he even tugged on it for security. I should have visually checked that the door was secure. We took off and were climbing out about a mile or so from the departure end of the runway; heading west; when suddenly the left door opened and completely detached from the airplane. I took control immediately and told the departure controller that we lost the door and needed to return to the airport with priority. The controller switched me back to tower and we landed uneventfully. I later went up in another airplane with a coworker and searched the area briefly for the door; and then drove in the area looking for it as well; but was unsuccessful.

Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Columbia 400 pilot reported that a cabin door detached from the aircraft on takeoff; resulting in a return to land.

Narrative: I was giving a demonstration flight to a person who had never flown a Columbia 400. The person was in the left seat; I was in the right. I showed him how to latch the door; and during the taxi and run-up I never saw a 'door open' annunciation on the panel; which should show up when any of the aircraft's doors are not latched. The person said his door was closed and latched; and he even tugged on it for security. I should have visually checked that the door was secure. We took off and were climbing out about a mile or so from the departure end of the runway; heading west; when suddenly the left door opened and completely detached from the airplane. I took control immediately and told the Departure Controller that we lost the door and needed to return to the airport with priority. The Controller switched me back to Tower and we landed uneventfully. I later went up in another airplane with a coworker and searched the area briefly for the door; and then drove in the area looking for it as well; but was unsuccessful.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.