Rockwell AC-500 incident near Palm Beach, Florida, April 24, 1985
On April 24, 1985 at about 7:17 pm local time, a Rockwell AC-500, registered N3836C, suffered minor damage in an incident near Palm Beach, Florida (Palm Beach Inter Nat'L airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 7 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
The NTSB has not yet published a probable cause for this incident. Investigations usually take one to two years; this page updates when the final report is released.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- April 24, 1985 · about 7:17 pm local time
- Place
- Palm Beach, Florida · Palm Beach Inter Nat'L · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 7 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Rockwell AC-500
- Registration
- N3836C · registry record · serial 500-791
- Damage
- Minor damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
ON FINAL APCH, THE ACFT WAS ADVISED TWICE BY THE TOWER TO GO AROUND BECAUSE HIS LANDING GEAR WAS NOT EXTENDED, THE ACFT DID NOT RESPOND & LANDED GEAR UP ON RWY 13. EXAMINATION OF THE LANDING GEAR SYSTEM AFTER THE OCCURRENCE REVEALED THE WARNING HORN WAS INOPERATIVE, NO OTHER EVIDENCE OF SYSTEM FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION COULD BE FOUND.
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: flight instructor, commercial pilot
- Ratings: multi-engine land; single-engine land; single-engine sea; instructor: airplane single-engine; rotorcraft: helicopter
- Flight time: 2,699 hours in all; 970 in this make and model; 210 in the last 90 days; 1,998 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 2 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 59,505 hours
- Last inspection: annual inspection; 61 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 6,000 lb
- Seats: 7
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Lycoming O-540A2B (piston); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: MYAT Treasure Cay OF at 7:00 pm
- Destination: PBI Palm Beach FL
- Flight plan: VFR
- Runway 13, 6,930 ft by 150 ft
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 090° at 8 knots
- Visibility: 9 statute miles
- Sky: not recorded at 2,500 ft
- Temperature: 81°F (27°C), dew point 63°F (17°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 7:00 pm from PBI
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 1 | |||
| Passengers | 6 |
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 N3836C 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.