Saab-Scania Ab (Saab) SF340B accident near Dfw Airport, Texas, July 1, 1996
On July 1, 1996 at about 12:11 pm local time, a Saab-Scania Ab (Saab) SF340B, registered N335AE, was substantially damaged in an accident near Dfw Airport, Texas (Dfw International Airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 15 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The manufacturer's inadequate procedure for manufacturing the number two turbine disk.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 1, 1996 · about 12:11 pm local time
- Place
- Dfw Airport, Texas · Dfw International Airport
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 15 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Saab-Scania Ab (Saab) SF340B
- Registration
- N335AE · no longer on the register · serial 340B-335
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane departed runway 13L and climbed to an altitude of approximately 400 feet AGL when the flight crew 'heard a loud bang.' The right engine upper cowling departed the airplane, the right engine shut itself down, and the right propeller automatically feathered. The flight crew declared an emergency and executed a single engine landing without further incident. Examination of the airplane's right CT7-9B turboprop engine revealed that the Stage 2 turbine disk was missing and that approximately one third of the disk was found in the right landing light compartment. One end of the disk fragment progressed through a cooling air hole and there was evidence of a fatigue fracture that had initiated from multiple origins on the inboard side of the cooling air hole. Research revealed a layer of deformed microstructure and an associated zone of increased disk hardness near the origin area of the fatigue crack. Test disks were drilled using dull and worn drill bits which resulted in plastic deformation and increased hardness of the inner diameter hole surfaces. The manufacturer reported that the deformed microstructure correlates to a zone of reduced fatigue properties.
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, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 9,200 hours in all; 2,000 in this make and model; 173 in the last 90 days; 58 in the last 30 days; 8,000 as pilot in command; 700 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 6,501 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, June 12, 1996; 121 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 29,000 lb
- Seats: 27
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Ge CT7-9B (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Operator: Wings West Airlines, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: DFW at 12:11 pm
- Destination: SHV Shreveport LA
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 13L, 9,000 ft by 200 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 180° at 9 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 77°F (25°C), dew point 64°F (18°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 11:53 am from KDF, 4 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 | |||
| Passengers | 12 |
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 N335AE 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.