Authorities search for woman who fell out of plane

The DeHavilland Twin Otter DHC-6 in a hangar in San Jose, California, on Friday

SACRAMENTO, California (CNN) -- Police and federal investigators were searching Friday for a woman who was reported as falling out of an airplane at 2,000 feet despite a rescue attempt by a fellow passenger.

The FBI has ruled out foul play, saying the woman either committed suicide or was the victim of a bizarre accident.

Authorities were told the incident occurred during a shuttle flight in California from Roseville, near Sacramento, to San Jose. There were two pilots and five employees of the computer maker Hewlett-Packard aboard the DeHavilland DHC-6 turboprop.

Shortly after takeoff, the pilot noticed a warning light that indicated the plane's rear door was open. He made a precautionary landing at Sacramento Executive Airport. The door was checked and the plane took off again.

Several minutes later, passengers reported feeling a "whoosh" or sudden breeze, said FBI information officer Andy Black. A male passenger said he turned around and saw the door open and a female passenger falling out.

A helicopter flies over Sacramento, California, in search of the missing Hewlett-Packard employee

According to Black, the man said he lunged over his seat and grabbed the woman's arm and shoulder in an attempt to pull her back into the plane, but he couldn't hold on.

When the plane's co-pilot noticed the warning light illuminated again and went back into the cabin to close the door, the noise from the plane was apparently so loud that the male passenger couldn't tell him what had happened.

"It appears that due to the sound and the noise, (the co-pilot) was unable to understand what the passenger was trying to tell him," Black said.

A DeHavilland DHC-6 turboprop is very noisy during flight, a pilot familiar with it told CNN.

When the plane landed in San Jose, the passenger was finally able to tell the pilots what had happened. Black said that was the explanation for why the first 911 call was made 45 minutes after the landing.

Hewlett-Packard would not disclose the woman's identity, saying only that she worked in the company's purchasing department.

"We are deeply concerned and are helping authorities to determine what happened," the company said in a statement Friday.

Reuters contributed to this report.

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National Transportation Safety Board
  •  Aviation
Federal Aviation Administration
Hewlett-Packard
DeHavilland DHC-6 Information

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