- Date
- October 28, 1983, 13:35 local (17:35 UTC)
- Place
- Middletown, PA
- Injuries
- 1 fatal, 29 uninjured
- Damage
- No damage
- Phase of flight
- Enroute
- Aircraft
- N26288Short Brothers SD3-30
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19831028075179A
- Case key
- 35437
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
After takeoff on a flt to Washington, DC, the aircraft was climbing thru about 3500 ft when a person (riding as a passenger) moved to the right rear door, opened it & departed the acft. Prior to the flt, an associate, who was an acft refueler, saw the person near the end of the boarding line. The refueler asked the person where he was going; the person replied DC or someplace in between. When the person got on board, he spoke to the flt attendant by name & asked for a specific seat near the right rear door. When the acft was climbing after takeoff, the flt attendant heard air noise from the opened door & also heard someone scream 'my god, he jumped.' After the person jumped, the door remained partially open with his shoe wedged in the doorway.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N26288
- Reported as
- Short Brothers SD3-30
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- SH 3074
- Airframe hours
- 3,005
- Engine
- P&W PT6A-45A, 1,120 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- No damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Registered owner
- Pennsylvania Airlines, Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Departed
- MDT
- Destination
- DCA · Washington, DC
- Flight plan
- IFR
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
- 27
- Certificate
- Airline transport
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--no waivers/lim.
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,472 total · 2,310 in this make and model · 5,358 as pilot in command
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Day
- Wind
- 220° at 10 knots
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 25,000 ft broken
- Temperature
- 64 °F, dew point 36 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- HAR
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.