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FTW88LA050

1988-01-10 · DFW AIRPORT, Texas, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport DFW

N142AA has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (CESSNA 560XL, built 2002), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

UNEXPECTED OPENING OF THE IL DOOR, WHICH CAUGHT THE PASSENGER BETWEEN IT AND THE BULKHEAD AS THE DOOR MOVED INWARD AND UPWARD. A SECONDARY CAUSE WAS THE FAILURE OF THE FLIGHT ATTENDANTS TO FOLLOW COMPANY PROCEDURES REQUIRING THEM TO GUARD ALL ENTRY DOORS DURING THE DEPLANING PROCESS.

Factual narrative

WHILE DEPLANING, A PASSENGER (PAX) FROM THE 1ST ROW OF THE CABIN WAS REMOVING CARRY-ON LUGGAGE FROM A COMPARTMENT IN THEFORWARD BULKHEAD, ADJACENT TO THE 1L ENTRY DOOR, AS OTHER PAX WERE EXITING VIA THE 2L DOOR. NONE OF THE FLT ATTENDANTS WERE MONITORING THE FORWARD (1L) DOOR, WHICH WAS NOT IN COMPLIANCE WITH COMPANY PROCEDURES. UNEXPECTANTLY, A GATE AGENT OPENED THE 1L DOOR FROM THE OUTSIDE. AS IT MOVED INWARD & UPWARD, THE PAX'S HEAD & LEFT SHOULDER WERE CAUGHT BETWEEN THE DOOR & THE FORWARD BULKHEAD, CAUSING HIM TO BE CARRIED UP WITH THE DOOR. HE THEN FELL TO THE CABIN FLOOR AS THE DOOR WENT FULLY OPEN, SUSTAINING A FRACTURED ARM. THE COMPARTMENT WAS NORMALLY USED BY CREW ONLY, BUT WAS UTILIZED IN THIS CASE DUE TO LACK OF OTHER SPACE. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_FTW88LA050.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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