Airborne Flying Service Cessna 414 accident
Cessna 414 · Accident: airframe, component or system failure while standing
From an unrecorded airport to Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW)
Event
- NTSB case
- CHI92FA104
- 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
- 3 · 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
Cessna 414
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 414
- 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
- N69662
- Operator
- Airborne Flying Service
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From not recordedTo Chicago Midway International Airport (MDW), Chicago, IL
- 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
- Standing
- 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
- Airframe, component or system 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
- Flt control syst, elevator control cable/rod › Jammed
- Pilot in command › Operation with known deficiencies in equipment, attempted
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
WHILE LOADING A PATIENT & HIS PERSONAL GEAR IN THE AIRCRAFT FOR AN AIR AMBULANCE FLIGHT, THE AIRCRAFT TIPPED ONTO ITS TAIL. AS A RESULT, THE TAIL BUMPER WAS FORCED UPWARD INTO THE BELLY OF THE EMPENNAGE. THE PILOT REFUSED THE OFFER TO HAVE A MECHANIC LOOK AT THE DAMAGE, AND REMARKED 'THIS HAS HAPPENED BEFORE.' AFTER TAKEOFF, THE PILOT RADIOED TO THE TOWER THAT HE HAD A JAMMED ELEVATOR, AND WAS COMING AROUND TO LAND. WHILE MANUEVERING ON A BASE LEG, CONTROL WAS LOST & THE AIRPLANE WAS OBSERVED TO CRASH WITH ONE WING PERPENDICULAR TO THE GROUND. ANOTHER AIRPLANE WAS IN THE TAKEOFF POSITION ON THE RUNWAY. THE AIRPLANE WAS CONFIGURED WITH A HOSPITAL LITTER/STRETCHER AND OXYGEN BOTTLE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE CABIN. THERE WAS NO RECORD FOR THE APPROVAL FOR, OR INSTALLATION OF, THE STRETCHER. IN ADDITION, THERE WAS NO WEIGHT & BALANCE RECORD FOR THE AIRPLANE WITH THE STRETCHER INSTALLATION.
Probable cause
THE PILOT'S POOR JUDGEMENT IN ATTEMPTING FLIGHT AFTER THE AIRPLANE'S FUSELAGE WAS DAMAGED DURING A LOADING OPERATION. FACTORS WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: THE OPERATOR'S FAILURE TO PROVIDE PROPER WEIGHT AND BALANCE DATA FOR THE AIRPLANE, THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO SUPERVISE THE LOADING OPERATION, AND HIS FAILURE TO ACCEPT THE SERVICES OF A MECHANIC TO INSPECT THE DAMAGE.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record CHI92FA104
- Event ID
- 20001211X14253
- Case number
- CHI92FA104
- Dataset
- historical-pre2008
- Source SHA-256
- 89e2df6d848e7ab3b42e7d7c7a03ff403303057a26ca04c95b3ea67201c3ce74
Source notes (4)
- 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: investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date, which is the same as the UTC date the NTSB stores.
- API snapshot SHA-256: f4b4e8c77bda47599be0fc7e0c1e9a8e797314313c13cdc37a7c5e45a3f7f438; retrieved 2026-09-18T13:59:59.153Z.