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LAX87FA028

1986-10-30 · SANTA BARBARA, California, United States · Serious · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport SBA

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

ON A DARK NIGHT, IN CAVU WEATHER, THE CAPTAIN DIRECTED THE FIRST OFFICER (WHO WAS FLYING) TO DISARM THE LANDING GEAR WARNING HORN SYSTEM BY PULLING ITS CIRCUIT BREAKER. THE F/O COMPLIED & DID NOT CHALLENGE THE CAPTAIN. ON FINAL APPROACH THE F/O FAILED TO CHECK THAT HIS 'GEAR DOWN' COMMAND WAS COMPLIED WITH & THE CAPTAIN FORGOT TO LOWER THE GEAR. AS THE ACFT SLID TO A STOP ON ITS BELLY THE RIGHT ENGINE'S 3 PROP BLADES FRAGMENTED & PUNCTURED THE PASSENGER COMPARTMENT. THE 2 PAX WHO WERE SEATED IN ROW 2 ABEAM THE BLADES' PLANE OF ROTATION WERE STRUCK BY FRAGMENTS & RECEIVED SERIOUS LEG & MINOR FACIAL LACERATIONS. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1986_LAX87FA028.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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