Amateur-built SX-300 accident near Hill Afb, Utah, June 12, 1999
On June 12, 1999 at about 6:00 pm local time, a amateur-built SX-300, registered N120J, was substantially damaged in an accident near Hill Afb, Utah (Hill Air Force Base airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
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The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
A failure of the left main landing gear attachment for undetermined reasons.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 4, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- June 12, 1999 · about 6:00 pm local time
- Place
- Hill Afb, Utah · Hill Air Force Base · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built SX-300
- Registration
- N120J · registry record · serial 60
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
While taxiing following landing at the end of a cross-country flight, the left main landing gear collapsed when the pilot turned the airplane. Examination determined the strut's outer trunion flange had cracked and broke free from its attach bolt. This action had apparently taken place several days before the accident when the pilot related he had heard a loud 'bang/thump' but could not find the origin.
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: commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 19,414 hours in all; 900 in this make and model; 20 in the last 90 days; 10 in the last 30 days; 14,400 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 906 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, June 27, 1998; 50 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 2,400 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming AEIO540L (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: SLC Salt Lake City UT
- Destination: HIF Ogden UT
- Flight plan: none
- Runway 14, 13,500 ft by 200 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: at 4 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 20,000 ft
- Temperature: 79°F (26°C), dew point 50°F (10°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 6:55 pm from HIL
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
Other NTSB records under N120J the same tail number, which may have belonged to a different aircraft at the time
About this page
Everything above comes from the NTSB's public accident database: the narrative, probable cause and findings are the NTSB's own words, and the coded tables behind its report (pilot, aircraft, flight, weather, injuries, sequence of events) are written out in plain English. Pilots' ages, home towns and medical details are left out on purpose. The docket at the NTSB holds the report as a PDF and the investigation's photographs and documents. This site never names pilots, passengers or anyone else involved. A preliminary report describes what is known soon after the event and can change; the final report, with the probable cause, usually follows one to two years later and this page is refreshed when it does. Case number DEN99LA100.