FLIGHT FINDINGSAVIATION OCCURRENCE MAP
Back to map

Western Aviators Swearingen SA-26AT accident

13 Feb 1992 · Glenwood Springs, CO, United States

Swearingen SA-26AT · Accident: total loss of engine power (mechanical failure) en route

From Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT) to Denver International Airport (DEN)

Show on map Search Wikipedia NTSB source dataset
Report a problem

Event

NTSB case
DEN92FA035
Event typeAccident: someone killed or seriously injured, or the aircraft substantially damaged (NTSB definition). Incident: an occurrence that affected or could have affected safety, short of that. Glossary
Accident
InvestigationHow far the investigation had got when the record was published: preliminary, ongoing, final or completed. Unknown where the source does not say. Glossary
Completed
API-reported fatalities
0 · all aircraft and ground
Ground fatalities
0
OperationWhat kind of flying it was, grouped by the rules it flew under: airline (US Part 121), air taxi and commuter (Part 135), general aviation (Part 91 and similar), military or government. Glossary
Charter & commuter
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Instrument Meteorological Cond

Swearingen SA-26AT

Aircraft type
Swearingen SA-26
Category
Airplane
RegistrationThe aircraft's tail number, such as N12345 or G-ABCD. Registrations are reissued, so the same one years apart can be a different aircraft. Glossary
N26JB
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Grand Junction Regional Airport (GJT), Grand Junction, COTo Denver International Airport (DEN), Denver, CO
Aircraft age
Not recorded
Flight rulesThe regulations the flight operated under: in the US, Part 91 (general aviation), Part 121 (airlines), Part 135 (air taxi and commuter) and others; for flights abroad, the NTSB's coarser commercial or non-commercial code. Glossary
Part 135: Air Taxi & Commuter
Phase of flightThe stage of the flight when things started to go wrong: standing, taxi, takeoff, initial climb, en route, maneuvering, approach or landing. Glossary
En route · cruise
First occurrenceThe single coded event the NTSB judges best describes what happened (records from 2008 on). Older records name the first occurrence in the sequence instead. Glossary
Total loss of engine power (mechanical failure)
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Cause areas

  • Fuel system, fuel control › Movement restricted
  • Turbine assembly, shroud › Delamination

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

THE PILOT OF THE AIR AMBULANCE FEATHERED THE RIGHT PROPELLER AFTER REPORTING 'A BIT OF A PROBLEM' WITH THE RIGHT ENGINE. HE ATTEMPTED TO DIVERT TO THE NEAREST SUITABLE AIRPORT, BUT AFTER RECEIVING ITS LATEST WEATHER REPORT, ELECTED TO RETURN TO BASE. THE AIRPLANE MADE A LEFT TURN, REENTERED IMC, AND IMPACTED A MOUNTAINSIDE ON A MAGNETIC HEADING OF 092 DEGREES. THE HEADING TO THE AIRPORT OF INTENDED LANDING WAS 272 DEGREES. THE ACCIDENT OCCURRED DURING A SNOW STORM AT NIGHT. ALL FIVE OCCUPANTS SURVIVED AND WERE RESCUED THE FOLLOWING AFTERNOON. THICK GREASE ON THE RIGHT ENGINE FUEL CONTROL CAM SHAFT PREVENTED A SPRING FROM RETURNING THE 3D CAM TO A LOWER ALTITUDE POSITION. THE CAM WAS FOUND STRUCK ON THE SHAFT AT A POSITION EQUATING TO AN ALTITUDE OF APPROXIMATELY 15,000 FEET. THE FUEL FLOW SCHEDULE FOR FLIGHT IDLE WAS BELOW SPECIFICATIONS. IN ADDITION, SHROUD MATERIAL WAS FOUND DELAMINATED FROM THE LEFT ENGINE SECOND STAGE COMPRESSOR HOUSING.

Probable cause

MALFUNCTION OF THE RIGHT ENGINE FUEL CONTROL THAT CAUSED THE ENGINE TO FLAME OUT, AND DELAMINATION OF THE LEFT ENGINE COMPRESSOR SHROUD. FACTORS WERE: THE PILOT BECAME DISORIENTED, THE MOUNTAINOUS TERRAIN, THE DARK NIGHT, AND THE WEATHER CONDITIONS.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record DEN92FA035
Event ID
20001211X14097
Case number
DEN92FA035
Dataset
historical-pre2008
Source SHA-256
89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (5)
  • Unreviewed is an editorial label, not an investigation status. API-sourced is not report-checked or human-reviewed. Explicit event totals are used without summing aircraft injury tables; onboard allocation is withheld. Unknown values remain unknown. The operation category is mapped from the NTSB-reported FAR part and has not been reviewed.
  • Filled from the NTSB case API where the bulk record had no value: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
  • The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1992-02-14.
  • API snapshot SHA-256: 0b7ffef300de9f45251296575c98f77129824b2734d231ed6985140c0133709d; retrieved 2026-09-18T18:48:16.079Z.
  • The NTSB's operator name is blank for N26JB; the operator shown is the name the NTSB records it doing business as.