Boeing 767-231 incident near San Diego, California, January 24, 1983
On January 24, 1983 at about 4:44 am local time, a Boeing 767-231, registered N602TW, suffered minor damage in an incident near San Diego, California (Lindberg airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 159 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- January 24, 1983 · about 4:44 am local time
- Place
- San Diego, California · Lindberg
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 159 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 767-231 · all 767-231s on the register
- Registration
- N602TW · registry record · serial 22565
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
WHILE DESCENDING THRU 12,000 FT APRX 40 MI EAST OF SAN DIEGO, CA, THE LEFT OVERWING EVACUATION SLDE ANNUNCIATOR LIGHT ILLUMINATED. THE SLIDE SEPARATED FROM THE ACFT APRX 7 MI EAST OF THE ARPT. NO FLT CONTROL PROBLEMS WERE NOTED. INTEGRITY OF THE SYS WAS FOUND TO BE SATISFACTORY. THE EVACUATION SLIDE SQUIB & ACTUATOR HAD NOT BEEN ACTIVATED. THERE WERE INDICATIONS THAT THE INTEGRATOR LOCKING PIN HAD NOT BEEN FULLY SEATED, WHICH ALLOWED THE LATCH SHAFT TO MOVE AFT, THUS ALLOWING THE DOOR LATCHES TO RELEASE. DURING A MODIFICATION ON 1/22/83, THE LATCH ATTACH SCREWS HAD BEEN CHANGED. THIS MODIFICATION REQUIRED UNLATCHING THE LOCK PIN. AMBIGUITIES WERE FOUND IN THE INSTALLATION PROCEDURE FOR THE OFF- WING SLIDE; THE INSTRUCTIONS FAILED TO DESCRIBE THE MODE OF OPERATON WITH RESPECT TO TURNING DIRECTIONS OF THE LATCH- UNLATCH LEVERS. THIS WAS THE 4TH IN-FLT OVERWING SLIDE DEPLOYMENT. AS A RESULT OF THIS INCIDENT, BOEING BEGAN A DESIGN CHANGE OF THE INTEGRATOR MECHANISM. IN THE INTERIM, COMPLIANCE WITH SB 767-25-5 WAS REQUIRED BY 2/15/83.
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: 8,228 hours in all; 127 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 1
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 394 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, January 2, 1983; 0 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 300,000 lb
- Seats: 196
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT9D-7R4D (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: STL St.Louis MO
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night, bright
- Visibility: 50 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 12 | |||
| Passengers | 147 |
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 N602TW the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.