Boeing 727-224 accident near Minneapolis, Minnesota, September 10, 2000
On September 10, 2000 at about 2:38 pm local time, a Boeing 727-224, registered N296SC, was substantially damaged in an accident near Minneapolis, Minnesota (Minneapolis St. Paul Intl airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 101 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The fatigue failure of the wheel assembly. A factor was the inadequate inspection procedures prior to the issuance of a service bulletin.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- September 10, 2000 · about 2:38 pm local time
- Place
- Minneapolis, Minnesota · Minneapolis St. Paul Intl · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 101 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Boeing 727-224 · all 727-224s on the register
- Registration
- N296SC · registry record · serial 22449
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The Boeing 727-224 number 3 wheel assembly failed during taxi for takeoff and pieces of the wheel assembly impacted the airframe causing damage. Examination of the wheel assembly revealed a fatigue failure that emanated from a point at the inside diameter of one of the brake lugs. A circumferential scratch was found adjacent to the fatigue origin. The wheel half had been inspected by an approved repair station and shipped to the airline on July 21, 2000. The wheel was installed on the accident aircraft and had accumulated 356.2 hours time in service at the time of the accident. A review of repair station records revealed that the repair station had been rejecting about 4 wheel halves per month. Prior to the accident, the repair station was finding cracks on other wheel halves in the area where the wheel failure occurred. The repair station had been in contact with the wheel manufacturer concerning this matter and had sent representative wheel halves to the manufacturer for evaluation. In a conversation with a representative of the Federal Aviation Administration, the wheel manufacturer stated that one of the returned wheel halves had been examined and that a manufacturing defect had created a stress concentrator, which resulted in a fatigue failure of the wheel half. The wheel manufacturer issued a Service Bulletin to rework the lugs and to provide guidance in inspecting the affected areas of the wheel assembly.
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: airline transport pilot, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instrument: airplane; rotorcraft: glider; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 14,265 hours in all; 8,975 in this make and model; 191 in the last 90 days; 73 in the last 30 days; 12,009 as pilot in command; 522 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme
- Maximum gross weight: 190,500 lb
- Seats: 179
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W JT8D-15 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Operator: Sun Country Airlines
The flight
- Departed from: MSP at 2:25 pm
- Destination: SFO San Francisco CA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: at 5 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 20,000 ft
- Temperature: 151°F (66°C), dew point 113°F (45°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 2:53 pm from MSP
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 7 | |||
| Passengers | 94 |
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.