Madeline Tompkins

Who is Madeline Tompkins?

Madeline "Mimi" Tompkins is an airline pilot who gained international fame on April 28, 1988, as the First Officer on Aloha Airlines Flight 243, which landed safely after an explosive decompression in flight.

A native of Port Acres, Texas, Tompkins was the first woman to work as a pilot for Aloha Airlines. On April 28, 1988, Tompkins was co-piloting a Boeing 737-200 from Hilo to Honolulu, Hawaii. As the aircraft reached its cruising altitude of 24,000 feet, the roof of the cabin forward of the wings suffered an explosive decompression incident, which tore most of the roof off and swept Clarabelle Lansing, the chief flight attendant, out of the aircraft to her death. The aircraft was diverted to Maui where Tompkins assisted in the emergency descent. The heavily crippled airliner was able to land with no further injuries to those on board. Tompkins also assisted the passengers down the emergency evacuation slides. The accident prompted industry-wide changes in the maintenance requirements for all aging aircraft in the United States.

Tompkins later became Aloha Airlines' first female captain and remained flying the Boeing 737-200, as well as the Boeing 737-700 on transpacific routes until Aloha's last day of business. She has since been hired as a first officer for Hawaiian Airlines