Aircraft Accident/Incident Report

Hillsdale, Wisconsin 54733
Monday, April 22, 2002 17:25 CDT

NTSB Narrative Summary Released at Completion of Accident

The on-demand passenger flight was cruising at flight level 190 when the passenger/crew door separated from the airframe. Visual meteorological conditions with no reported turbulence prevailed at the time of the incident. The door was recovered in the locked position. Examination of the door revealed a fatigue fracture of the upper aft latch bolt. There were no indications of damage to the door frame and latch plates.

NTSB Probable Cause Narrative

The fatigue failure of the passenger/crew door latch pin during cruise flight.

Event Information

Type of Event Incident
Event Date 4/22/2002
Event Day of the Week Monday
Time of Event 1725
Event Time Zone Central Daylight Time
Event City Hillsdale
Event State WISCONSIN
Event Country --
Zipcode of the event site 54733
Event Date Year 2002
Event Date Month 4
MidAir Collision Indicator No
On Ground Collision occurred ? No
Event Location Latitude --
Event Location Longitude --
Event Location Airport --
Event Location Nearest Airport ID --
Indicates whether the acc/inc occurred off or on an airport Off Airport/Airstrip
Distance from airport in statute miles --
Degrees magnetic from airport --
Airport Elevation --
Weather Briefing Completeness Unknown
Investigator's weather source Weather Observation Facility
Time of the weather observation 1656 Central Daylight Time
Direction of event from weather observation facility (degrees) 135
Weather Observation Facility ID EAU
Elevation of weather observation facility 885
Distance of event from weather observation facility (units?) 30
Time Zone of the weather observation CDT
Lighting Conditions Day
Lowest Ceiling Height 3800
Lowest Non-Ceiling Height 2700
Sky/Lowest/Cloud Conditions Few
Sky Condition for Lowest Ceiling Overcast
Visibility Runway Visual Range (Feet) --
Visibility Runway Visual Value (Statute Miles) --
Visibility (Statute Miles) 10
Air Temperature at event time (in degrees celsius) 3
Dew Point at event time (in degress fahrenheit) -3
Wind Direction (degrees magnetic) 230
Variable Wind Indicator Wind direction could be determined
Wind Speed (knots) 3
Wind Velocity Indicator --
Wind Gust Indicator Gusting
Wind Gust (knots) 0
Altimeter Setting at event time (in. Hg) 30.12
Density Altitude (feet) --
Intensity of Precipitation --
METAR weather report --
Event Highest Injury None
On Ground, Fatal Injuries --
On Ground, Minor Injuries --
On Ground, Serious Injuries --
Injury Total Fatal --
Injury Total Minor --
Injury Total None 9
Injury Total Serious --
Injury Total All --
Investigating Agency NTSB
NTSB Docket Number (internal use) 14165
NTSB Notification Source FAA
NTSB Notification Date Apr 23 2002 12:00AM
NTSB Notification Time 1000
Fiche Number and/or location -used to find docket information DMS
Date of most recent change to record Nov 25 2003 11:36AM
User who most recently changed record NTSB\MONR
Basic weather conditions Visual Meteorological Cond
FAA District Office Milwaukee FSDO

Aircraft Involved

Aircraft #1

Aircraft Registration Number N26SJ
NTSB Number CHI02IA116
Missing Aircraft Indicator --
Federal Aviation Reg. Part Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Type of Flight Plan filed IFR
Flight plan Was Activated? Yes
Damage Minor
Aircraft Fire None
Aircraft Explosion None
Aircraft Manufacturer's Full Name Beech
Aircraft Model 200
Aircraft Series Identifier --
Aircraft Serial Number BE592
Certified Max Gross Weight 12500
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 11
Number of Engines 2
Fixed gear or retractable gear Retractable
Aircraft, Type of Last Inspection 100 Hour
Date of Last Inspection Apr 17 2002 12:00AM
Airframe hours since last inspection 5.5
Airframe Hours 6352.3
ELT Installed Yes
ELT Activated No
ELT Aided Location of Event Site No
ELT Type --
Aircraft Owner Name FLYING DOLLAR AIR INC
Aircraft Owner Street Address 170 3rd Street N
Aircraft Owner City Wisconsin Rapids
Aircraft Owner State WI
Aircraft Owner Country USA
Aircraft Owner Zipcode 54494
Operator is an individual? No
Operator Name --
Operator Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Is Doing Business As --
Operator Address Same as Owner? Yes
Operator Street Address --
Operator City --
Operator State --
Operator Country --
Operator Zip code --
Operator Code F6DA
Owner has at least one certificate --
Other Operator of large aircraft? --
Certified for Part 133 or 137 Operation --
Operator Certificate Number --
Indicates whether an air carrier operation was scheduled or not Non-scheduled
Indicates Domestic or International Flight Domestic
Operator carrying Pax/Cargo/Mail Passenger Only
Type of Flying (Per_Bus / Primary) --
Second Pilot on Board Yes
Departure Point Same as Event No
Departure Airport Code STP
Departure City ST PAUL
Departure State MN
Departure Country USA
Departure Time 1715
Departure Time Zone CDT
Destination Same as Local Flt --
Destination Airport Code ATW
Destination City APPLETON
Destination State WI
Destination Country USA
Specific Phase of Flight Cruise
Report sent to ICAO? No
Evacuation occurred No
Date of most recent change to record Sep 10 2003 7:45AM
User who most recently changed record SULP
Since inspection or accident --
Event Location Runway Number and Location --
Runway Length --
Runway Width --
Sight Seeing flight No
Air Medical Flight No
Medical Flight --