Swearingen SA226TC incident near Albuquerque, New Mexico, May 24, 1984
On May 24, 1984 at about 2:00 pm local time, a Swearingen SA226TC, registered N237AM, suffered minor damage in an incident near Albuquerque, New Mexico (Albuquerque Int'L Arpt. airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 19 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. 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
- May 24, 1984 · about 2:00 pm local time
- Place
- Albuquerque, New Mexico · Albuquerque Int'L Arpt. · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 19 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Swearingen SA226TC · all SA226TCs on the register
- Registration
- N237AM · registry record · serial TC 332
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
WHEN GEAR WAS LOWERED FOR LANDING RT MAIN GEAR WOULD NOT EXTEND ALTHOUGH PERSONS ON THE GROUND STATED THE GEAR DOORS APPEARED OPEN. REMEDIAL ACTION BY THE FLT CREW DID NOT RECTIFY THE SITUATION AND A GEAR UP LANDING WAS PERFORMED. WHEN ACFT WAS RAISED FROM RWY AND RT MAIN GEAR DOORS FORCED OPEN, A MECHANICS TOOL, CALLED AN AWL, FELL OUT OF WHEEL WELL. EXAMINATION OF MARKS ON THE AWL AND IN THE WHEEL WELL INDICATED THE AWL BECAME LODGED BTW THE KEELSON WEB AND THE DOOR HINGE. THIS WOULD HAVE BLOCKED THE DOORS FROM OPENING PAST THE HALF WAY POSITION THUS PREVENTING GEAR EXTENSION. A MECHANIC HAD PERFORMED A ROUTINE GEAR INSPECTION USING AN AWL TO ALIGN SOME SCREW HOLES ON THE EVENING PRECEEDING THE INCIDENT.
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; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: airplane single-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 6,870 hours in all; 4,300 in this make and model; 245 in the last 90 days; 6,520 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 8,310 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, May 23, 1984; 238 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 10,062 lb
- Seats: 19
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Airesearch TPE-331 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Operator: Air Midwest Airlines, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: ROW Roswell NM
- Destination: ABQ Albuquerque NM
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 35, 8,993 ft by 200 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 190° at 7 knots
- Visibility: 20 statute miles
- Sky: overcast at 25,000 ft; not recorded at 25,000 ft
- Temperature: 72°F (22°C), dew point 59°F (15°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 1:11 pm from ABQ
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 17 |
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.
Other NTSB records under N237AM the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
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.