- Date
- September 24, 1986, 20:35 local (Sep 25, 1986, 01:35 UTC)
- Place
- Galesburg, IL
- Injuries
- 12 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Takeoff
- Aircraft
- N327BAFairchild SA-266TC
- Weather
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Status
- Completed
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19860924048909A
- Case key
- 13278
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
All landing gear on the aircraft prematurely retracted during takoff rotation. The captain aborted the takeoff and the aircraft slid to a stop on the runway. Subsequent gear retraction tests revealed no mechanical malfunctions within the landing gear system. SA-226 series aircraft are prone to inadvertent gear retractions due to the location of the gear selector lever near the pilot's right knee. It is easy to accidently move the lever out of the 'down' detent. In this accident the captain aborted the takeoff during rotation at approx 113 KTS. V1 speed for this takeoff was 108 KTS.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N327BA
- Reported as
- Fairchild SA-266TC
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- TC 249
- Airframe hours
- 12,391
- Engine
- Garrett TPE-331-3UW30, 940 horsepower, turbo prop
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Part 135
- Operator
- Britt Airways
- Registered owner
- Britt Airways Inc.
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Normal
- Last inspection
- Continuous airworthiness · September 7, 1986
- Destination
- UIN · Quincy, IL
- Flight plan
- IFR
- Airport
- GBG · Galesburg Municipal, runway 20, 5,800 × 150 ft, asphalt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 56
- Certificates
- Airline transport, Flight instructor, Commercial
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land, Multi-engine land
- Instrument ratings
- Airplane
- Medical
- Class 1, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 6,000 total · 5,000 as pilot in command · 250 in the last 90 days · 80 in the last 30 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Instrument (IMC) · Night/dark
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- 1,500 ft overcast
- Temperature
- 66 °F
- Altimeter
- 29.00 inHg
- Observed at
- GBG, 1 nm away
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.