Madeline Tompkins

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Madeline Tompkins (born c. 1962) is an airline pilot who gained international fame on April 28, 1988, after landing Aloha Airlines flight 243 safely, after facing a near disaster.

A native of Florida, Mimi, as she is known to family, friends and colleagues, was the first woman to work as a pilot for Aloha Airlines. She became a first officer on Aloha Airlines' Boeing 737-200 fleet.

Tompkins gained national recognition for her heroic efforts of saving lives on the Aloha Airlines Flight 243 accident. On April 28, 1988 the Boeing 737-200 Tompkins was co-piloting from Hilo to Honolulu, HI experienced a catastrophic failure inflight in the forward section of the fuselage. One flight attendant was swept away during the massive cabin decompression at 24,000 feet above the Hawaiian islands. The flight 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 onboard. 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 remains flying the Boeing 737-200, as well as the Boeing 737-700 on transpacific routes.

Reports surfaced of a passenger named Madeline Tompkins dying on American flight 587 in New York City in 2001, but these bear no relation to the pilot of flight 243.