Transitions from slow flow to fast tailward flow are studied in the distant plasma sheet at downtail distances of ~70Re with the data from the GEOTAIL satellite. The speed of 300 km/s can be regarded as a reasonable measure that separates the fast and the slow flow. While the magnetic field tends to be northward during the slow flow, its polarity oscillates between northward and southward during the fast tailward flow. A case is studied in detail where the slow-to-fast transition of the flow velocity was observed when the spacecraft was very close to the neutral sheet, and it is seen that the pressure was balanced in the interface region between these flows. The observations are consistent with a model in which the fast tailward flow is associated with a plasmoid and the quiet plasma is pushed forward when a plasmoid approaches. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1994