Individually Owned: 150,657
Corporate Owned: 137,281
O'hare Int'l Airport
Aircraft Accident/Incident Report
Chicago, Illinois 60666
Sunday, July 9, 1995 21:09 CDT
NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident
THE MAIN PASSENGER CABIN DOOR OPENED SHORTLY AFTER TAKEOFF AT APPROXIMATELY 800 FEET AGL. THE AIRPLANE RETURNED TO THE AIRPORT, AND THE DOOR SEPARATED FROM THE AIRPLANE WHILE IT WAS ON FINAL APPROACH. ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT THE DOOR WAS CLOSED AND LOCKED PRIOR TO TAKEOFF. THE LACK OF DAMAGE INDICATES THE DOOR WAS UNLOCKED/UNLATCHED WHEN IT OPENED. THE AIRPLANE HAD A NEWLY DESIGNED HANDRAIL/DOOR HANDLE INSTALLED WHICH REVERSED THE DIRECTION OF MOTION TO LOCK AND UNLOCK THE DOOR. FOURTEEN AIRPLANES IN THE FLEET INCORPORATED THIS DESIGN. THE NEWLY HIRED #1 FLIGHT ATTENDANT HAD OPERATED THIS HANDLE ON 16 OF HER 60 FLIGHTS SINCE BEING HIRED. SHE HAD BEEN ON DUTY ABOUT 14.5 HOURS ON THE DAY OF THE INCIDENT WITH ONLY 5 HOURS OF SLEEP THE PREVIOUS NIGHT DUE TO HER FLIGHT SCHEDULE. SHE STATED THERE WAS A VERY LOUD 'HUMMING NOISE' COMING FROM THE DOOR PRIOR TO IT OPENING.
NTSB Probable Cause Narrative
the flight attendant's failure to follow procedures which resulted in her inadvertently opening the main cabin door in flight. Factors associated with the incident were: the flight attendant's fatigue due to lack of sleep and a long duty day, interference with habit regarding the direction of motion of the door locking handle, and inadequate design of the door locking handle by the manufacturer.
Event Information
| Type of Event | Incident |
| Event Date | 7/9/1995 |
| Event Day of the Week | Sunday |
| Time of Event | 2109 |
| Event Time Zone | Central Daylight Time |
| Event City | CHICAGO |
| Event State | ILLINOIS |
| Event Country | -- |
| Zipcode of the event site | 60666 |
| Event Date Year | 1995 |
| Event Date Month | 7 |
| MidAir Collision Indicator | No |
| On Ground Collision occurred ? | No |
| Event Location Latitude | |
| Event Location Longitude | |
| Event Location Airport | O'HARE INT'L |
| Event Location Nearest Airport ID | ORD |
| Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport | Off Airport/Airstrip |
| Distance from airport in statute miles | -- |
| Degrees magnetic from airport | 40 |
| Airport Elevation | 668 |
| Weather Briefing Completeness | Not pertinent |
| Investigator's weather source | Weather Observation Facility |
| Time of the weather observation | 2050 Central Daylight Time |
| Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) | 0 |
| Weather Observation Facility ID | ORD |
| Elevation of weather observation facility | 668 |
| Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) | 0 |
| Time Zone of the weather observation | CDT |
| Lighting Conditions | Night/Bright |
| Lowest Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Lowest Non-Ceiling Height | 0 |
| Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions | Clear |
| Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling | None |
| Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) | 0 |
| Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) | 0 |
| Visibility (Statute Miles) | 10 |
| Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) | 21 |
| Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) | 17 |
| Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) | 40 |
| Variable Wind Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Speed (knots) | 7 |
| Wind Velocity Indicator | Unknown |
| Wind Gust Indicator | Not Gusting |
| Wind Gust (knots) | 0 |
| Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) | 29 |
| Density Altitude (feet) | -- |
| Intensity of Precipitation | Unknown |
| METAR weather report | -- |
| Event Highest Injury | Minor |
| On Ground, Fatal Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Minor Injuries | 0 |
| On Ground, Serious Injuries | 0 |
| Injury Total Fatal | -- |
| Injury Total Minor | 1 |
| Injury Total None | 64 |
| Injury Total Serious | -- |
| Injury Total All | 1 |
| Investigating Agency | NTSB |
| NTSB Docket Number (internal use) | 5028 |
| NTSB Notification Source | -- |
| NTSB Notification Date | Jul 9 1995 12:00AM |
| NTSB Notification Time | 2136 |
| Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information | IMAGE |
| Date of most recent change to record | Dec 7 2000 4:24PM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Basic weather conditions | Visual Meteorological Cond |
| FAA District Office | -- |
Aircraft Involved |
|
|---|---|
Aircraft #1 |
|
| Aircraft Registration Number | N440AM |
| NTSB Number | CHI95IA215 |
| Missing Aircraft Indicator | N |
| Federal Aviation Reg. Part | Part 121: Air Carrier |
| Type of Flight Plan filed | IFR |
| Flight plan Was Activated? | -- |
| Damage | Minor |
| Aircraft Fire | None |
| Aircraft Explosion | None |
| Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name | ATR |
| Aircraft Model | 72-212 |
| Aircraft Series Identifier | 72-212 |
| Aircraft Serial Number | 440 |
| Certified Max Gross Weight | 47465 |
| Aircraft Category | Airplane |
| Aircraft Registration Class | U.S. Registered/U.S. Soil |
| Aircraft is a homebuilt? | No |
| Flight Crew Seats | -- |
| Cabin Crew Seats | -- |
| Passenger Seats | -- |
| Total number of seats on the aircraft | 69 |
| Number of Engines | 2 |
| Fixed gear or retractable gear | Retractable |
| Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection | Continuous Airworthiness |
| Date of Last Inspection | Jul 6 1995 12:00AM |
| Airframe hours since last inspection | 22 |
| Airframe Hours | 644 |
| ELT Installed | Yes |
| ELT Activated | No |
| ELT Aided Location of Event Site | Unknown |
| ELT Type | -- |
| Aircraft Owner Name | AMR LEASING CORPORTATION |
| Aircraft Owner Street Address | P.O. BOX 619616 |
| Aircraft Owner City | DALLAS |
| Aircraft Owner State | TX |
| Aircraft Owner Country | |
| Aircraft Owner Zipcode | 75261 |
| Operator is an individual? | -- |
| Operator Name | SIMMONS AIRLINES |
| Operator Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Is Doing Business As | -- |
| Operator Address Same as Owner? | No |
| Operator Street Address | 1700 20TH ST. |
| Operator City | DFW |
| Operator State | TX |
| Operator Country | |
| Operator Zip code | 75261 |
| Operator Code | SIM |
| Owner has at least one certificate | Yes - certificate holder |
| Other Operator of large aircraft? | No |
| Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation | Unknown |
| Operator Certificate Number | -- |
| Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not | Scheduled |
| Indicates Domestic or International Flight | Domestic |
| Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail | Passenger Only |
| Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) | Unknown |
| Second Pilot on Board | Yes |
| Departure Point Same as Event | Yes |
| Departure Airport Code | ORD |
| Departure City | |
| Departure State | |
| Departure Country | |
| Departure Time | 2108 |
| Departure Time Zone | CDT |
| Destination Same as Local Flt | -- |
| Destination Airport Code | SBN |
| Destination City | SOUTH BEND |
| Destination State | IN |
| Destination Country | |
| Specific Phase of Flight | Takeoff |
| Report sent to ICAO? | -- |
| Evacuation occurred | -- |
| Date of most recent change to record | Jan 2 2001 10:30AM |
| User who most recently changed record | dbo |
| Since inspection or accident | -- |
| Event Location Runway Number and Location | 0 |
| Runway Length | -- |
| Runway Width | -- |
| Sight Seeing flight | No |
| Air Medical Flight | No |
| Medical Flight | -- |