- Date
- April 3, 1988, 13:00 local (17:00 UTC)
- Place
- Sarasota, FL
- Injuries
- 1 serious, 144 uninjured; on the ground: 1 serious
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Standing
- Aircraft
- N88703Boeing 727-224
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed · report March 13, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19880403009869A
- Case key
- 32014
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
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 captain of the Boeing 727 aircraft was aware that a refueler was utilizing known quantity refueling procedures due to an inoperative fuel guage. He allowed the flight engineer to activate the b hydraulic system and the ground interconnect switch, without positively assuring that gnd personnel were clear of the leading edge slats. At the same time the refueler was having difficulty with the fueling system. The refueler climbed on a ladder to open a fuel panel without telling anybody. When the b hydraulic system was activated, the slats retracted crushing the neck of the refueler between the wing and the trailing edge of a slat.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N88703
- Reported as
- Boeing 727-224
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 19512
- Airframe hours
- 62,206
- Engine
- P&W JT8D, turbo fan
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 121
- Operator
- Continental Airlines
- Registered owner
- Continental Airlines Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Transport
- Destination
- EWR · Newark, NJ
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- SRQ · Sarasota-Bradenton
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
- 34
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 8,077 total · 2,448 in this make and model
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 210° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 30 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 81 °F, dew point 63 °F
- Altimeter
- 30.00 inHg
- Observed at
- SRQ
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.