British Aerospace BAE JETSTREAM 3201 incident near Champaign, Illinois, August 18, 1995
On August 18, 1995 at about 6:48 pm local time, a British Aerospace BAE JETSTREAM 3201, registered N425AM, suffered minor damage in an incident near Champaign, Illinois. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 18 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
fatigue cracking and subsequent catastrophic failure of the number two engine helical drive (bull) gear, which resulted in an overtemperature condition, bursting of the combustion plenum, and a subsequent in-flight fire.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 18, 1995 · about 6:48 pm local time
- Place
- Champaign, Illinois · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 18 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- British Aerospace BAE JETSTREAM 3201 BAE JETSTR
- Registration
- N425AM · registry record · serial 870
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane sustained minor damage following an uncontained failure of the number two engine during approach. The crew received a fire indication of the number two engine. They secured the engine and discharged the nacelle fire extinguishing system. They landed and evacuated the airplane without further incident. Examination revealed several penetrations of the right fuselage side and number two cowling. The gearbox housing had a hole at the 12 o'clock position in the plane of rotation of the helical drive (bull) gear. The combustion plenum had a hole at the five o'clock position. Fragments of the bull gear were recovered from within the gear box. Metallurgical examination of the bull gear revealed a fatigue crack that emanated from the root radius of a gear tooth. The crack progressed to an area of the fracture that contained 'features typical of overstress separation.' The hole in the combustion plenum was attributed to excessive temperature. No other metallurgical anomaly was noted.
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
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 5,648 hours in all; 2,524 in this make and model; 240 in the last 90 days; 34 in the last 30 days; 2,277 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 9,777 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, August 14, 1995; 11 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 15,000 lb
- Seats: 21
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Garrett TPE-331-12 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Operator: Trans State Airlines
The flight
- Departed from: STL St Louis MO at 7:10 pm
- Destination: CMI
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 290° at 6 knots
- Visibility: 15 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 3,700 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 93°F (34°C), dew point 75°F (24°C)
- Altimeter: 29.00 inHg
- Observation at 6:48 pm from CMI, 6 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 16 |
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.