British Aerospace JETSTREAM 3101 incident near South Bend, Indiana, August 27, 1999
On August 27, 1999 at about 4:10 pm local time, a British Aerospace JETSTREAM 3101, registered N460CE, was involved in an incident near South Bend, Indiana (Michiana Regional airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 20 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
the right engine accessory section's splined gear spur gear failure during cruise flight.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 27, 1999 · about 4:10 pm local time
- Place
- South Bend, Indiana · Michiana Regional · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 20 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- British Aerospace JETSTREAM 3101 JETSTREAM
- Registration
- N460CE · no longer on the register · serial 680
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane sustained an in-flight failure of the right engine. The captain performed the checklist to shut down the engine and performed the single engine landing. No injuries were reported. A review of the engine history revealed that this was the third "in-flight shutdown" for this engine. The engine's time since new was 21,101.8 hours, its time since overhaul was 2,414.3 hour, and its time installed on the airplane since its last maintenance was 76.4 hours. The reason for the last maintenance was an "in-flight shutdown." The accessory section was examined at the NTSB Materials Laboratory. The report stated that the spur gear appeared undamaged. The spur gearshaft had portions of teeth missing. The housing had markings and impressions consistent with splined spur gear contact. The splined spur gear was found fractured and deformed into an oval shape, resulting in a gap between the mating fracture faces. The outer surfaces parallel to the circumferential plane of the splined spur gear appeared rubbed, and portions had a blue-purple tint consistent with frictional heating. Areas of the fracture surfaces also had a similar blue-purple tint. Portions of five external gear teeth were missing. All of the internal spline's teeth peaks were missing and the teeth were deformed. One radial fracture face had smooth flat features, consistent with fatigue and crack arrest lines were found. The fatigue had multiple origins. Inner diameter origins were located in the root of a spline. The contact surface of the spline tooth adjacent to the fracture origin was deformed consistent with rotational contact with spline crowns. Hardness of the splined spur gear was measured to be 38 HRC, which was within its specified range.
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: 2,602 hours in all; 234 in the last 90 days; 89 in the last 30 days; 2,133 as pilot in command; 151 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 21,604 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, August 5, 1999; 128 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 15,212 lb
- Seats: 21
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Garrett TPE-331-10UGR (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: MDW Chicago IL at 3:25 pm
- Destination: GRR Grand Rapids MI
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 9, 7,099 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Visibility: 9 statute miles
- Sky: broken clouds at 1,600 ft; not recorded
- Temperature: 167°F (75°C), dew point 151°F (66°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 4:01 pm from SBN
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 18 |
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.