Smith, Ted Aerostar AEROSTAR 600 accident near Birmingham, Alabama, November 12, 1985
On November 12, 1985, a Smith, Ted Aerostar AEROSTAR 600, registered N107MW, was substantially damaged in an accident near Birmingham, Alabama (Birmingham Municipal airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this accident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 12, 1985
- Place
- Birmingham, Alabama · Birmingham Municipal · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Smith, Ted Aerostar AEROSTAR 600 AEROSTAR 6
- Registration
- N107MW · registry record · serial 600004
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
THE LEFT MAIN GEAR COLLAPSED DURING A LOSS OF CONTROL ON LANDING. THE PLT REPORTED THE ACFT TOUCHED DOWN PREMATURELY DURING THE FLARE AND IT CONTACTED THE LIP OF THE RWY AT THE APCH END. DIRECTIONAL CONTROL COULD NOT BE MAINTAINED, ACCORDING TO THE PLT, AND THE ACFT TRAVELED OFF THE LEFT SIDE OF THE RWY COLLAPSING THE LEFT GEAR.
The complete narrative as the NTSB published it. The NTSB's docket holds the report as a PDF and any photographs, statements and other documents from the investigation.
The factual record from the NTSB's investigation tables, in plain English
Pilot
- Certificate: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 4,200 hours in all; 500 in this make and model; 370 in the last 90 days; 100 in the last 30 days; 4,000 as pilot in command; 2,300 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 3,275 hours
- Last inspection: inspection type not recorded, October 28, 1985; 32 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 5,500 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming IO-540-K135 (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: BFM Mobile AL
- Destination: BHM Birmingham AL
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 36, 4,856 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 020° at 3 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 25,000 ft; scat at 4,500 ft
- Temperature: 64°F (18°C), dew point 59°F (15°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 12:15 pm from MOB, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 1 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
The docket, the folder of records gathered during an investigation (maintenance records, photographs, witness statements, examinations), has not been read from the NTSB for this case yet; the list appears here once it has. Open the docket at the NTSB.
Everything on this page comes from the NTSB's public records. The narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words; the coded tables behind the report are written out in plain English, with pilots' ages, home towns and medical details left out. The documents and photographs are the NTSB's docket, shown as the NTSB released them. This site's own text never names anyone involved. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.