Swearingen SA227AC accident near Salt Lake City, Utah, December 16, 1986
On December 16, 1986 at about 2:27 am local time, a Swearingen SA227AC, registered N164SW, was substantially damaged in an accident near Salt Lake City, Utah (Salt Lake Int'L airport). It was a flight of an unrecorded kind under charter and air-taxi rules (Part 135). No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved. The weather was instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility).
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
- December 16, 1986 · about 2:27 am local time
- Place
- Salt Lake City, Utah · Salt Lake Int'L · map
- Type
- Accident
- Injuries
- No one was hurt; 4 people were on board or involved.
- Weather
- instrument conditions (cloud, fog or low visibility)
- Aircraft
- Swearingen SA227AC · all SA227ACs on the register
- Registration
- N164SW · registry record · serial 503
- 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
THE F/O WAS AT THE CONTROLS FOR THE ILS APCH TO SLC. FOG SEEDING WAS IN PROGRESS, PRODUCING VARIABLE VISIBILITIES. THE APCH COMMENCED WITH RVR WELL ABOVE CAT I MINS. AT DECISION HEIGHT(DH), THE CAPT CALLED 'LIGHTS IN SITE'. THE F/O CONTINUED THE APCH DESCENT THRU DH. THE ACFT THEN REENTERED IMC AND THE CAPT CALLED FOR MISSED APCH. THE F/O ADDED PWR AND ESTABLISHED A WINGS LEVEL, 10 DEG NOSE-UP ATTITUDE ON THE GYRO HORIZON AS THE CAPT EXECUTED CHECK LIST ITEMS. THE CAPT THEN NOTED THE ACFT WAS HEADING 20 DEGS RIGHT OF COURSE AND THE RIGHT WING DOWN ATTITUDE ON HIS GYRO HORIZON AT WHICH TIME HE CALLED 'TURN LEFT AND PULL UP.' THE ACFT LEFT MAIN LANDING GEAR CONTACTED A 45 FT HIGH ILS ANTENNA STACK 1049 FT DOWN THE RWY, 400 FT RIGHT OF CENTERLINE. THIS SEPARATED THE LEFT MAIN GEAR. THE ACFT DIVERETED TO PIH WHERE ADDITIONAL DAMAGE WAS SUSTAINED DURING LANDING. TESTS SHOWED THE F/O GRYO HORIZON HAD BAD BEARINGS AND THE 'OFF' FLAG WAS INOP. THE F/O'S ALTIMETER ALSO READ 100 FT HIGH.
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: airplane single-engine; instrument: airplane
- Flight time: 8,993 hours in all; 6,476 in this make and model; 277 in the last 90 days; 107 in the last 30 days; 8,953 as pilot in command; 200 on instruments
- Medical certificate: Class 1 (valid medical--w/ waivers/lim.)
- Seat: left
The aircraft
- Airframe total time: 11,586 hours
- Last inspection: continuous airworthiness programme, December 13, 1986; 21 hours since
- Maximum gross weight: 14,500 lb
- Seats: 21
- Landing gear: retractable
- Engine: Garrett TPE-331 (turboprop); 0 hours total
- Operator: Skywest Airlines, INC.
The flight
- Departed from: IDH Idaho Falls ID at 1:38 am
- Destination: SLC Salt Lake City UT
- Flight plan: IFR
- Runway 34L, 12,003 ft by 150 ft
- A second pilot was aboard
Weather at the time
- Light: night, dark
- Sky: not recorded at 200 ft
- Temperature: 27°F (-3°C), dew point 25°F (-4°C)
- Altimeter: 30.00 inHg
- Observation at 2:51 am from SLC
Injuries
| Fatal | Serious | Minor | None | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crew | 2 | |||
| Passengers | 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.
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.