Amateur-built SD3-60 incident near Miami, Florida, June 2, 1996
On June 2, 1996 at about 5:12 pm local time, a amateur-built SD3-60, registered N826BE, was involved in an incident near Miami, Florida (Miami International airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under scheduled airline rules (Part 121). No one was hurt; 35 people were on board or involved. The weather was visual conditions (good weather).
The NTSB's probable cause their words, unchanged
fatigue failure of a segment of the elevator trim cable.
Source: NTSB aviation accident database, copy made October 5, 2026. Docket and reports at the NTSB.
What the record shows
- Date
- June 2, 1996 · about 5:12 pm local time
- Place
- Miami, Florida · Miami International · map
- Type
- Incident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 35 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Amateur-built SD3-60
- Registration
- N826BE · no longer on the register · serial SH3745
- Damage
- Not recorded
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · scheduled airline rules (Part 121)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
The captain stated that the elevator trim worked fine during preflight inspection, and was set for takeoff. With the first officer flying the airplane after takeoff, while climbing through 300 feet, the elevator trim cable failed. The captain assisted the first officer, and the flight returned and landed uneventfully. Examination of the airplane revealed that an elevator trim cable failed due to fatigue about 18 inches forward of a turnbuckle and just aft of a pulley where a 45-degree change in direction occurred. The cable was required to be inspected every 1,460 days or 4,800 hours. At the time of the failure, the cable had accumulated 1,679.4 hours and 2,017 cycles, since last inspection 573 days earlier, and a total of 10,953.0 hours and 16,193 cycles, since new.
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; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 3,400 hours in all; 64 in this make and model; 64 in the last 90 days; 54 in the last 30 days; 3,100 as pilot in command; 710 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 10,953 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, May 27, 1996; 21 hours since
- Seats: 39
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: P&W PT6A-67R (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Operator: Gulfstream Int'L Airlines, INC
The flight
- Departed from: MIA at 5:11 pm
- Destination: MCO Orlando FL
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 060° at 12 knots
- Visibility: 12 statute miles
- Sky: scat at 4,000 ft
- Temperature: 82°F (28°C), dew point 59°F (15°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 4:50 pm from MIA, 1 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 3 | |||
| Passengers | 32 |
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.