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DCA85AA010

1985-01-21 · RENO, Nevada, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport RNO

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

SHORTLY AFTER GALAXY AIRLINES FLT 203 LIFTED OFF FROM RWY 16R, THE COPLT TRANSMITTED THAT THEY WOULD LIKE TO 'MAKE A LEFT DOWNWIND, WE GOTTA GET BACK ON THE GROUND.' HE THEN RPRTD THAT THERE WAS A HVY VIBRATION IN THE ACFT. FLT 203 WAS CLEARED AS REQUESTED, BUT A SHORT TIME LATER, THE ACFT DSCNDD & CRASHED ABOUT 1-1/2 MI FROM THE RWY. INVESTIGATION REVEALED EVIDENCE THAT THE GROUND HANDLERS HAD FAILED TO PROPERLY CLOSE AN AIR START ACCESS DOOR, WHILE THEY WERE SERVICING THE ACFT, DUE TO A DISRUPTION. INFO FROM THE COCKPIT VOICE RECORDER (CVR) INDICATED THAT AFTER THE DOOR BEGAN VIBRATING, POWER WAS REDUCED IN ALL 4 ENGS. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT BEGAN BUFFETING & LOST EXCESSIVE ALTITUDE BEFORE POWER WAS RESTORED. WHEN THE ACFT CRASHED, A STORE & 7 RECREATIONAL VEHICLES WERE ALSO DAMAGED. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1985_DCA85AA010.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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