- Date
- November 9, 1991, 08:48 local (14:48 UTC)
- Place
- Memphis, TN
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 10 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N311PXBritish Aerospace 3101
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report February 8, 1993
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19911109056499A
- Case key
- 8546
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Probable cause
The failure of the ramp agent to position an additional step below the last step of the airstair door and the ground; the agent failed to follow a verbal company procedure.
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
The airplane was parked at the passenger terminal with both engines shut down as passengers deplaned. Reportedly, two ramp agents were positioned at the bottom of the airstair door and were assisting the deplaning passengers. However, according to the wife of the injured passenger, her husband, a diabetic, was not assisted by the two agents. As the passenger stepped from the last step to the ground (approximately 18 inches) he fell and broke his hip. A northwest airlink official stated that a step was not positioned below the final airstair step as required by verbal company policy. A written policy regarding this matter is being formulated and will be inserted into the station manual. Subsequent to this accident, all ramp agents have been retrained in the use of the additional step requirement for the jetstream airplanes.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N311PX
- Reported as
- British Aerospace 3101
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 679
- Engine
- Garrett TPE-331, 940 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Northwest Airlink
- Registered owner
- Express Airlines, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Last inspection
- Unknown · January 2, 2000
- Departed
- MEI · Meridian, MS
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- MEM · Memphis International, runway 36, 7,319 × 150 ft, concrete
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 32
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land, Single-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 4,800 total · 2,000 in this make and model · 240 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 50° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 30 °F, dew point 16 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- MEM, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.