Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 facts for kids
N5532, the Lockheed L-188A Electra involved in the crash
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| Accident summary | |
|---|---|
| Date | January 21, 1985 |
| Summary | Pilot error and ground crew error |
| Place | near Reno-Cannon International Airport, Reno, Nevada, United States 39°27′55″N 119°46′56″W / 39.465281°N 119.782223°W |
| Passengers | 65 |
| Crew | 6 |
| Injuries (non-fatal) | 1 |
| Fatalities | 70 |
| Survivors | 1 |
| Aircraft type | Lockheed L-188A Electra |
| Airline/user | Galaxy Airlines |
| Registration | N5532 |
| Flew from | Reno-Cannon International Airport, Reno, Nevada |
| Flying to | Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 was a special flight that crashed on January 21, 1985. The plane was a Lockheed L-188 Electra, a large aircraft with four engines. It was flying from Reno, Nevada, to Minneapolis, Minnesota. Sadly, almost everyone on board died in the accident. Only one person out of 71 survived.
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What Happened to Flight 203?
The flight was bringing people back from a fun trip to see the Super Bowl and gamble at Caesars Tahoe. It took off from Reno-Cannon International Airport (now Reno-Tahoe International Airport) very early in the morning, at 1:04 am on January 21, 1985.
Soon after the plane left the ground, it started shaking very badly. The pilots quickly asked the airport tower if they could turn around and land again. A short time later, the plane crashed about 1.5 mi (2.4 km) from the end of the runway.
When the plane crashed, it caught fire. Pieces of the plane were scattered across a nearby highway and street. A store and several cars on the ground were also damaged.
There were 71 people on the plane. At first, three people survived the crash. But two of them later passed away from their injuries. The only person who survived was a 17-year-old boy. He was thrown out of the plane but landed safely in his seat on the street.
Because so many people died, their bodies were taken to a large center in Reno. Local medical students helped the coroner with the autopsies.
How Investigators Found the Cause
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) is a group that investigates accidents like this. They looked into what caused the crash of Flight 203.
They found that the main reason for the accident was that the pilots did not control the plane's speed and direction well enough. This happened after the plane started shaking right after takeoff.
A big reason for the shaking was that a door on the plane was not closed properly. This door is called an "air start access door."
Why the Door Was Open
The NTSB found that ground workers did not close the air start door correctly. This happened because their usual steps were interrupted. A supervisor was trying to talk to the pilots using a headset, but it wasn't working. So, he started using hand signals instead.
This change in signals caused some confusion. The supervisor accidentally signaled the plane to start moving before the air start hose was disconnected. The hose was then disconnected, but the air start door was left open.
How the Open Door Affected the Flight
The report said that the open door caused the plane to vibrate a lot. This shaking distracted the pilots. However, the vibrations probably would not have stopped the plane from flying normally at higher speeds. Other pilots had reported that these vibrations stopped once the plane flew faster.
The pilots then reduced power to all four engines at the same time. They likely did this to see if the engines were causing the shaking. But they did not increase the power back quickly enough. This caused the plane to stall, meaning it lost the lift it needed to stay in the air.
Remembering the Victims
In 1986, a special memorial called Galaxy Grove was created at Rancho San Rafael to remember those who died. A plaque was stolen from the memorial in 2013. Later, a new, heavy granite plaque was put in its place.
