- Date
- January 8, 2004, 14:30 local (20:30 UTC)
- Place
- Galesburg, IL
- Injuries
- 7 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N48TABeech E-90
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report July 29, 2004
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- Parties
- Raytheon Aircraft Company, Federal Aviation Administration
- FAA report
- 20040108000159A
- Case key
- 58606
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 pilot's inadequate preflight by not complying with the airplane's before takeoff checklist to verify that the cabin door was secured leading to its in-flight separation from the airplane. A factor was that the door was not secured.
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 sustained substantial damage when its cabin door opened in-flight, separated from the airplane, and impacted the empennage during climb out. A passenger closed the cabin door. The report, signed by the pilot, stated, "The door was not verified to be closed properly by the PIC." That report listed no mechanical malfunctions in reference to the flight.
Factual narrative
On January 8, 2004, about 1430 central standard time, a Beech E-90, N48TA, operated by Tidewater Aero, sustained substantial damage when the cabin door opened in-flight and impacted the empennage during climb out near Galesburg, Illinois. The non-scheduled domestic passenger flight was operating under 14 CFR Part 135. Visual metrological conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. An instrument flight rules (IFR) flight plan was on file. The airline transport pilot and his six passengers reported no injuries. The flight originated at the Galesburg Municipal Airport (GBG), near Galesburg, Illinois, about 1425, and was destined for Mountain Empire Airport, near Marion, Virginia.
The accident report, signed by the pilot, stated:
At 1415 CST N48TA was loaded with one pilot, [pilot's name],
PIC [pilot-in-command], for Tidewater Aero, two Virginia Beach
(VA BCH) police officers, and [four] prisoners, being returned
to VA BCH. The PIC was among the first aboard. A VA BCH
police officer closed the aircraft door, while the PIC was in the
cockpit. The door was not verified to be closed properly by
the PIC. At 1425 CST, the aircraft departed [runway] 21 at GBG
and started a climbing left turn. At approximately 2000 [feet]
MSL, the "Cabin Door" annunciator light came on. At that point
the PIC turned the aircraft further left to return to GBG for landing.
Power was reduced, and the climb stopped. At [approximately]
1430 CST, 2 [miles southeast] of GBG, the door separated from
the aircraft. ... Witness sitting at the side facing seat-opposite from
the door said he could hear loud "air" noise coming from the door
before it separated. Aircraft was in a left turn when the door
separated. Upon returning to GBG, ground crew brought a ladder
to unload passengers without incident.
That report stated that "no one on board or on the ground was injured" and it listed no mechanical malfunctions in reference to the flight.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N48TA
- Reported as
- Beech E-90
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- LW-283
- Airframe hours
- 8,590.9
- Engines
- Pratt & Whitney PT-6A-28, 550 horsepower, turbo propPratt & Whitney PT6A-28, 550 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Tidewater Aero L L C
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- AAIP · October 17, 2003
- Departed
- GBG · Galesburg, IL
- Destination
- MKJ · Marion/Wythevil, VA
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- GBG · Galesburg Muni
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
- 37
- Injuries
- None
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 2, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,500 total · 3,500 in this make and model · 4,500 as pilot in command · 130 in the last 90 days · 45 in the last 30 days · 4 in the last 24 hours
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 30° at 5 knots
- Visibility
- 10 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 7,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 34 °F, dew point 19 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.14 inHg
- Observed at
- GBG, 2 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.
Other investigations on N48TA · 1
Matched to the same aircraft by N-number and date.