Cessna 210N accident near Bedford Park, Illinois, January 30, 1987
On January 30, 1987 at about 2:29 am local time, a Cessna 210N, registered N4968C, was destroyed in an accident near Bedford Park, Illinois (Chicago Midway airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). 1 person was killed. 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
- January 30, 1987 · about 2:29 am local time
- Place
- Bedford Park, Illinois · Chicago Midway · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- 1 person was killed.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Cessna 210N · all 210Ns on the register
- Registration
- N4968C · no longer on the register · serial 21063694
- Damage
- Destroyed
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
JUST BFR TKOF FM RWY 22L ON A NGT IFR FLT, THE PLT WAS CLRD TO CLB & MAINT 2000' & TO CONTACT CHICAGO DEP CTL (TRACON). ABOUT 1 MIN LATER, HE CALLED TRACON & RPRTD HE WAS CLBG THRU 900' FOR 2000'. THIS CALL WAS IN A NORMAL TONE OF VOICE & WAS THE LAST TRANSMISSION FM THE ACFT. SHORTLY THEREAFTER, RADIO & RADAR CONTACT WERE LOST. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE ACFT CRASHED IN A STEEP DSCNT APRX 6000' SOUTH OF THE ARPT & 3200' LEFT OF THE EXTDD RWY CTRLN. THE LAST OF 4 RADAR 'HITS' SHOWED THE ACFT HAD CLBD TO 1300' MSL (ABOUT 700' AGL) BFR THE ACDNT. NO PREIMPACT ENG OR FLT CTL PRBLM WAS FND THAT WOULD HAVE RESULTED IN THE ACDNT, BUT THERE WERE 4 OPEN 'WRITE-UPS' DATED 1/27/87 THAT CONCERNED COCKPIT & INSTRUMENT LGTG. THESE INCLUDED: LEFT SIDE (PLT'S) OVERHEAD FLOOD LGT INOP, PANEL FLOOD LGTS INOP, INTERIOR LGTG CTL KNOB CONSTANT-LY FALLING OFF, PANEL POST LGTS EITHER FULL ON OR OFF. FOR CARGO OPNS, THE MAINT SYS ALLOWED DISCREPANCIES TO BE DELAYEDFOR UP TO SVRL DAYS UNTIL THE ACFT WAS RTRND TO THE HOME BASE.
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, flight engineer
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 2,000 hours in all; 200 in this make and model; 150 in the last 90 days; 33 in the last 30 days; 1,910 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,736 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, January 20, 1987; 30 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 3,800 lb
- Seats: 6
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Continental IO-520-L4 (piston); 0 hours total
- Operator: Promptair, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: MDW at 2:27 am
- Destination: MLI Moline IL
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 22L, 6,102 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Wind: from 290° at 10 knots
- Visibility: 1 statute miles
- Sky: not recorded
- Temperature: 34°F (1°C), dew point 30°F (-1°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 2:35 am from MDW, 2 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 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.