Boeing 737-201 incident near Dayton, Ohio, March 9, 1989
On March 9, 1989 at about 10:13 pm local time, a Boeing 737-201, registered N217US, was involved in an incident near Dayton, Ohio. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 82 people were on board or involved. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
AN EXCESSIVELY WORN OUTFLOW VALVE IN THE CABIN EVIRONMENTAL/PRESSURIZATION SYSTEM THAT RESULTED IN A RAPID CABIN DEPRESSURIZATION.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- March 9, 1989 · about 10:13 pm local time
- Place
- Dayton, Ohio
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 82 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Boeing 737-201 · all 737-201s on the register
- Registration
- N217US · registry record · serial 20215
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
A PASSENGER DIED AFTER A RAPID DECOMPRESSION AND EMERGENCY DESCENT. THERE WAS NO DAMAGE TO THE AIRPLANE OR INJURY TO THE REMAINING OCCUPANTS OF THE AIRPLANE. AN INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT AN UNCONTROLLABLE OUTFLOW VALVE RESULTED IN A RAPID DECOMPRESSION AT FL 310. THE OXYGEN MASKS DEPLOYED & THE CPT MADE AN EMERGENCY DESCENT TO 10,000 FT, THEN CONTINUED TO DAYTON, LANDING AT 1740. THE PASSENGER WAS TAKEN TO A DAYTON HOSPITAL AND DIED AT ABOUT 6 HOURS AND 50 MINUTES LATER. THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY CORONER RULED THAT DEATH WAS DUE TO NATURAL CAUSES.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: airline transport pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 12,800 hours in all; 2,500 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 49,548 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme; 31 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 110,000 lb
- Seats: 110
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT8D-9A (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: TPA Tampa FL at 8:36 pm
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Sky: not recorded; not recorded
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 6 | |||
| Passengers | 76 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Other NTSB records under N217US the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, the folder of records gathered during the investigation, shown as the NTSB released them (the NTSB redacts some personal details first) and listed under the NTSB's own titles. This site's own text never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number ATL89IA099.