When the plane was ready to depart, the senior cabin attendant took her seat, which is adjacent to the forward passenger door and faces rearwards. The first officer commenced the takeoff roll, using a decision speed of 107 kt. All appeared normal until 100 kt when the first officer glanced down and saw the red ‘Doors’ warning caption illuminate. He immediately called “STOP STOP STOP” and rejected the takeoff, bringing the aircraft to a complete halt on the runway. During the deceleration, the audio warning sounded. Once the aircraft was stationary the commander vacated his seat to check the situation in the passenger cabin whilst the first officer contacted ATC to inform them of the emergency. The commander returned to his seat, shut down the left hand engine and taxied to an allocated stand where the passengers were deplaned from a rear door. CONCLUSIONS: “The most probable cause of the accident was that the senior cabin attendant grasped the inner door handle to restrain her upper body during the rapid acceleration of the aircraft. The ergonomics of the cabin crew seat and door handle made such an involuntary action readily conceivable. Such action lead to the door unlatching and opening rapidly. Failure of the damper attachments and disruption of the banister mechanism then allowed forcible over-travel, leading to failure of the airstair attachment arms. The remaining attachment strength of the door and airstairs to the aircraft was such that both would almost certainly have separated had the aircraft become airborne. Had separation occurred, the port propeller and other critical parts of the aircraft would probably have been struck. A catastrophic outcome could not be ruled out. The door and airstair design, though technically complying with the certification requirements, lacked the necessary integrity to prevent a hazardous occurrence to the aircraft.”