Swearingen SA226TC accident near Kansas City, Missouri, February 15, 1986
On February 15, 1986 at about 2:33 am local time, a Swearingen SA226TC, registered N252AM, was substantially damaged in an accident near Kansas City, Missouri. It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 16 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 accident. 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
- February 15, 1986 · about 2:33 am local time
- Place
- Kansas City, Missouri
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 16 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- visual conditions (good weather)
- Aircraft
- Swearingen SA226TC · all SA226TCs on the register
- Registration
- N252AM · no longer on the register · serial TC-408
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Flight of an unrecorded kind · charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135)
The NTSB's narrative final · quoted from the NTSB record
DURING A CLIMB TO CRUISE, THE PILOT-IN-COMMAND DECLARED AN EMERGENCY & REQUESTED TO DSCND & RETURN TO THE ARPT. THE LANDING WAS UNEVENTFUL. AN EXAM OF THE LEFT PROP REVEALED THAT 1 OF ITS 3 BLADES HAD FAILED AT THE BUTT END & HAD SEPARATED. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE LEFT ENG ATTACH MOUNTS HAD FAILED & THE ENG HAD BECOME COCKED OUTBOARD FROM ITS ORIGINAL POSITION. A METALLURGICAL EXAM OF THE BLADE REVEALED FATIGUE CRACKING, EMINATING FM WITHIN THE PILOT HOLE OF THE BLADE BUTT. NUMEROUS SCRATCHES WERE VISIBLE IN THE PILOT HOLE AND THE CRACK HAD ITS INITIATION AT ONE OF THE SCRATCH MARKS NR THE BEARING WASHER. THE WASHER IS USED TO PULL THE BEARING OUT OF THE PILOT HOLE FOR MAINTENANCE AND/OR INSPECTION.
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: 8,193 hours in all; 6,036 in this make and model; 185 in the last 90 days; 90 in the last 30 days; 7,350 as pilot in command
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--no waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 2,374 hours
- Last inspection: approved inspection programme, January 26, 1986; 75 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 12,500 lb
- Seats: 17
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Airesearch TPE-331 (turboprop); 0 hours total
The flight
- Departed from: MCI Kansas City MO at 2:15 am
- Destination: MZV Moline IL
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 0
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: daylight
- Wind: from 300° at 4 knots
- Visibility: 10 statute miles
- Sky: clear
- Temperature: 16°F (-9°C), dew point 7°F (-14°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 2:45 am from MCI, 30 miles away
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 14 |
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.