Cessna 402B accident near Rochester, Minnesota, February 18, 1986
On February 18, 1986 at about 11:30 pm local time, a Cessna 402B, registered N3940C, was substantially damaged in an accident near Rochester, Minnesota (Rochester Muni airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 7 people were on board or involved. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
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
- February 18, 1986 · about 11:30 pm local time
- Place
- Rochester, Minnesota · Rochester Muni · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 7 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 402B · all 402Bs on the register
- Registration
- N3940C · no longer on the register · serial 40280819
- 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
DURING A ILS APPROACH IN FREEZING RAIN CONDITIONS THE PILOT ENTERED A HIGH SINK RATE HE COULD NOT STOP UNTIL GROUND CONTACT. THE ACFT TOUCHED DOWN SHORT OF THE RWY AND ALL THREE LANDING GEAR COLLAPSED.
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 multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 6,970 hours in all; 357 in this make and model; 60 in the last 90 days; 6,684 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,913 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection, December 1, 1985; 26 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 6,300 lb
- Seats: 10
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental TSIO-520-E (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Hinson Airways, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: GRR Grand Rapids MI at 9:02 pm
- Destination: RST Rochester MN
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 13, 7,535 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: dusk
- Wind: from 070° at 10 knots
- Visibility: 3 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 800 ft; not recorded at 800 ft
- Temperature: 30°F (-1°C), dew point 28°F (-2°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 11:24 pm from RST
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 6 |
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.