Beech 99 incident near Salt Lake City, Utah, November 30, 1995
On November 30, 1995 at about 2:28 pm local time, a Beech 99, registered N134PM, was involved in an incident near Salt Lake City, Utah (Salt Lake City airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
improper installation of the rudder control cable by company maintenance personnel, which resulted in chafing and/or fatigue and subsequent failure of the cable.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- November 30, 1995 · about 2:28 pm local time
- Place
- Salt Lake City, Utah · Salt Lake City
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 1 person was on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Beech 99 · all 99s on the register
- Registration
- N134PM · no longer on the register · serial U-34
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The pilot reported that shortly after takeoff, he felt a sharp jolt in the rudder pedals as the landing gear was retracting; after that, the aircraft would no longer respond to left rudder pedal input. The pilot declared an emergency and made an uneventful landing. Postflight examination of the aircraft revealed that the left rudder control cable had failed in proximity of a control pulley in the aft fuselage. Examination of the two cable retaining pins on the pulley braket showed cable scrape marks at their midpoints. The cable had been installed 3 months before the incident and had accumulated 183 hours in service. Metallurgical examination of the failed cable revealed evidence that at least a portion of the strands had failed from fatigue.
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; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 6,254 hours in all; 2,882 in this make and model; 150 in the last 90 days; 60 in the last 30 days
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 34,246 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, October 19, 1995; 80 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 10,900 lb
- Seats: 2
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W PT6A-28 (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: SLC at 2:28 pm
- Destination: BOI Boise ID
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 14, 5,295 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 120° at 17 knots
- Visibility: 5 statute miles
- Sky: ovct at 5,000 ft
- Temperature: 45°F (7°C), dew point 0°F (-18°C)
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 |
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.