Raytheon Aircraft Company 400A incident near Sugar Land, Texas, May 13, 2014
On May 13, 2014 at about 6:11 pm local time, a Raytheon Aircraft Company 400A, registered N412GJ, suffered minor damage in an incident during takeoff (rejected takeoff) near Sugar Land, Texas (Sugar Land Regional Airport). It was a positioning flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was conditions the NTSB did not record.
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The probable cause of the uncontained No. 2 engine failure on the Raytheon Beechjet 400A was a yellow-crowned night-heron birdstrike that resulted in fan blade contact with the inlet case and rub induced excitation of a previously unidentified natural frequency (resonance) within the engine operating range.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 12, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- May 13, 2014 · about 6:11 pm local time · cases in 2014
- Place
- Sugar Land, Texas · Sugar Land Regional Airport · cases near this airport · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- conditions the NTSB did not record
- Aircraft
- Raytheon Aircraft Company 400A A
- Registration
- N412GJ · registry record · serial RK-412
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Positioning flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The No. 2 engine sustained a yellow-crowned night-heron birdstrike during takeoff roll from Sugar Land Regional Airport (SGR)- Sugar Land, Texas. The impact from the birdstrike resulted in contact between the fan and inlet case that separated all nineteen (19) fan blades. The released blade fragments penetrated the engine case and cowl and caused an engine fire. A blade fragment impacted the right wing and punctured the fuel tank resulting in fuel spillage onto the wing surface and runway. Materials analysis on recovered fan blade fragments determined that all separated blades failed due to overload and no evidence of fatigue was identified. A series of modal tests including: tap hammer, high energy shaker, and computer model simulation were conducted at the system and component level. The tests identified a four nodal diameter coincidence at about 72% N1 speed. When sufficient energy is imparted to the engine fan during a foreign object ingestion event like a birdstrike, it may result in a rub induced excitation and subsequent fan blade separation and catastrophic engine failure.
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
What happened, in order
- Birdstrike during takeoff (rejected takeoff)
- Uncontained engine failure during takeoff (rejected takeoff)
- Powerplant sys/comp malf/fail during takeoff (rejected takeoff) defining event
- Fire/smoke (non-impact) during takeoff (rejected takeoff)
The NTSB's findings
- cause Aircraft › Aircraft power plant › Power plant › (general) › Failure other cases naming the engine
The aircraft
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine 1: Pratt & Whitney Canada JT5D-5 (turbofan); 0 hours total
- Engine 2: Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-5 (turbofan); 5,845 hours total
- Fire on the ground
The flight
- Runway 17, 8,000 ft by 100 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Temperature: 0°F (-18°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Flight crew | 2 |
Documents from the investigation the NTSB's docket: the evidence folder behind the report
5 documents, released by the NTSB on March 16, 2017. View them here, or download them; the NTSB redacts some personal details before release, and this site shows the NTSB's own titles rather than its file names.
| # | Document | What it is | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ENG14IA013- Beech 400, Sugar Land, Tx Smithsonian Feather Lab Identification | PDF, 1 page | View Download |
| 2 | Powerplant Group Chairman's Factual Report | PDF, 18 pages | View Download |
| 3 | Pratt & Whitney Canada Materials Investigation Laboratory Report- ME15137FS | PDF, 8 pages | View Download |
| 4 | NTSB - Adopted Board Report | PDF, 5 pages | View Download |
| 5 | Transmittal Letter | PDF, 1 page | View Download |
The same docket at the NTSB · documents without a copy here are fetched from the NTSB when you open them.
Connections how this case links to the rest of the register
- N412GJ on the register today · the tail number may have moved to another aircraft since
- Raytheon Aircraft Company 2,138 aircraft on the register
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney Canada JT5D-5 · as the NTSB recorded it
- Engine: Pratt & Whitney Canada JT15D-5 42 aircraft carry this series today · as the NTSB recorded it
- Sugar Land Regional · nearest airport
- Accidents and incidents in Texas 6,235 since 1982 · 1,060 in the last ten years
- Texas 29,940 aircraft registered
The whole map of how records connect · these connections as data: /graph/accident/ENG14IA013.json.
The bigger picture in Aviation Analytics: accidents over time since 1982, by model, by phase of flight and conditions, by place and on the map.
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 does not name anyone involved, its policy at this time. A preliminary report can change; the final report usually follows one to two years later, and the page is refreshed when it does.