Aerospatiale ATR-42-500 accident near Little Rock, Arkansas, July 28, 1999
On July 28, 1999 at about 4:27 pm local time, a Aerospatiale ATR-42-500, registered N14451, suffered minor damage in an accident near Little Rock, Arkansas (Adams Field). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 36 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The station manager's inadvertent encounter with the rotating propeller due to his diverted attention.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- July 28, 1999 · about 4:27 pm local time
- Place
- Little Rock, Arkansas · Adams Field · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 36 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Aerospatiale ATR-42-500 ATR 42-500
- Registration
- N14451 · no longer on the register · serial 512
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The turbo-propeller airplane was standing with both engines running when the station manager inadvertently walked into a rotating propeller. Witnesses to the accident stated that the airplane came to a stop on the ramp, and the station manager walked from behind the left wing toward the nose of the airplane. According to the witnesses, the station manager appeared to be listening to, or talking on, a shoulder mounted radio and then looked up at the people in the terminal. He looked back down and contacted the left propeller.
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: 2,748 hours in all
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 7,949 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, July 8, 1999; 195 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 41,005 lb
- Seats: 45
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W PW-127-E (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: IAH Houston TX at 1:30 pm
- Destination: LIT
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 290° at 9 knots
- Visibility: 7 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 4,000 ft
- Temperature: 97°F (36°C), dew point 72°F (22°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 4:53 pm from LIT
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 | |||
| Passengers | 33 |
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.