Boeing 727-225A incident near Tampa, Florida, January 20, 1984
On January 20, 1984 at about 10:15 pm local time, a Boeing 727-225A, registered N8852E, suffered minor damage in an incident near Tampa, Florida. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 152 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 20, 1984 · about 10:15 pm local time
- Place
- Tampa, Florida
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 152 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 727-225A · all 727-225As on the register
- Registration
- N8852E · no longer on the register · serial QA628
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE ACFT EXPERIENCED A RAPID LOSS OF FUEL QUANITY ON THE #1 FUEL TANK DURING THE CLIMB TO CRUISE. INVESTIGATION REVEALED THAT PRIOR TO THIS FLT THE WATER SEPARATOR ACCESS DOOR HAD BEEN REPLACED BY A FABRICATED METAL PLATE WHICH SEPARATED IN FLT. THE SEPARATED PLATE INFLICTED DAMAGE TO ONE OF THE #1 FUEL INSPECTION PLATES AND FUEL WAS DUMPED OVERBOARD.
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; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 11,444 hours in all; 5,052 in this make and model
- Medical certificate: Class 1
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 35,250 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme; 1,839 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 173,000 lb
- Seats: 157
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT8D-15 (turbofan); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: TPA Tampa FL
- Destination: HIO Houston TX
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: not reported
- Sky: not recorded; not recorded
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
- Observation at 9:50 pm from PIE, 150 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 | |||
| Passengers | 149 |
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.
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.