Swearingen SA-227-AC accident near San Antonio, Texas, August 16, 1999
On August 16, 1999 at about 10:33 pm local time, a Swearingen SA-227-AC, registered N2671V, was substantially damaged in an accident near San Antonio, Texas (San Antonio International airport). It was an instructional flight under general aviation rules (Part 91). No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The instructor pilot's failure to complete the Emergency Gear Extension Checklist, resulting in the inadvertent wheels-up landing. A factor was the instructor pilot's fatigued condition.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- August 16, 1999 · about 10:33 pm local time
- Place
- San Antonio, Texas · San Antonio International · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 2 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Swearingen SA-227-AC · all SA-227-ACs on the register
- Registration
- N2671V · no longer on the register · serial AC-437
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional flight · general aviation rules (Part 91)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The airplane landed wheels up after the instructor pilot failed to lower the landing gear. The instructor told the student to execute 'a no flap landing due to a simulated hydraulic pump failure.' The student established the airplane on the approach and called for the 'Emergency Gear Extension Checklist.' The instructor delayed extending the gear in accordance with the operator's flight standards manual, which stated that the landing gear should not be extended until the landing was assured. Later in the approach, when the gear warning horn stopped sounding, due to the student's movement of the power levers forward, the instructor removed his hand from the gear handle without extending the gear. The instructor stated that 'because [the student] had already called for the [Emergency Gear Extension] checklist once before, in a split second thought process, [he] mistakenly thought it had been completed.' Following the accident, the landing gear system was tested and found to operate normally. Review of the maintenance records revealed no uncorrected discrepancies. At the time of the accident, the instructor pilot was completing a 9-hour work day, and did not have a lunch break.
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, flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; instructor: airplane multi-engine; instructor: instrument airplane; instrument: airplane; instrument: helicopter; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 3,400 hours in all; 490 in this make and model; 40 in the last 90 days; 27 in the last 30 days; 2,400 as pilot in command; 580 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 19,317 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, August 4, 1999; 24 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 14,500 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Garrett TPE331-11U (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: SAT San Antonio TX at 7:30 pm
- Runway 12R, 8,502 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 100° at 10 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 97°F (36°C), dew point 61°F (16°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 |
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 N2671V 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.