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CHI86MA216 · Boeing 737-222

30 Aug 1986 · Lansing, MI, United States

Boeing 737-222 and Piper PA-30 · Incident: near collision between aircraft en route

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Narrative check · The NTSB narrative appears to contradict this record's registration. Values are shown as recorded, not corrected; compare with the narrative.

Event

NTSB case
CHI86MA216
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
Incident
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
Airline
WeatherVisual meteorological conditions (VMC): good enough to fly by looking outside. Instrument conditions (IMC): cloud or low visibility, flying by instruments. Glossary
Visual Meteorological Cond

Aircraft 1 · Boeing 737-222

Aircraft type
Boeing 737
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
N749N
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From James M. Cox Dayton International Airport (DAY), Dayton, OHTo Capital Region International Airport (LAN), Lansing, MI
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 121: Air Carrier
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 · descent
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
Near collision between aircraft
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
None

Aircraft 2 · Piper PA-30

Aircraft type
Piper PA-30
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
N7388Y
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From Manville, NJTo Gerald R. Ford International Airport (GRR), Grand Rapids, MI
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 91: General Aviation
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
Near collision between aircraft
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
None

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, inadequate

Approximate · Estimated position: the centre of Lansing, MI, the place the record names. Not the accident site.

NTSB narrative

PIEDMONT FLT PI255 (A BOEING 737, N749N) WAS DSCNDG IN VISUAL CONDS ON AN IFR CLNC WHEN IT & A TWIN COMMANCHE (PIPER PA-30, N7399Y) CONVERGED & PASSED WITHIN A RPRTD 50 TO 100 FT OF EACH OTHER. THE NEAR COLLISION OCCURRED AS THE PA-30 WAS CRUISING WESTBOUND AT 8500 FT & FLT PI255 WAS DSCNDG TO 7000 FT. LANSING APCH CONTROL (CTL) HAD ADZD FLT PI255 OF VFR TRAFFIC (A BEECH E33) AT 6500 FT, BUT THE CTLR WAS NOT AWARE OF THE PA-30 SINCE ITS RADAR RETURN WAS BLOCKED OUT BY AN OVERLAP WITH THE BEECH E33, 2000 FT BELOW THE PA-30. THE PLT OF THE BEECH E33 WAS BEING PROVIDED VFR ADVISORIES BY APCH CTL. THE PA-30 WAS NOT ON A FLT PLAN & WAS NOT IN RADIO CONTACT WITH ATC. NEITHER OF THE CREWS INVOLVED IN THE NEARCOLLISION SAW THE OTHER ACFT. ALL 3 ACFT WERE TRANSPONDER EQUIPPED WITH ALT RPRTG CAPABILITY & ALL WERE SQUAWKING EITHERAN ASSIGNED OR AN APPROPRIATE CODE SUPPLEMENTED BY ALT REPLY.

Verbatim NTSB analysis from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record CHI86MA216
Event ID
20001213X34443
Case number
CHI86MA216
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, damage. 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: fd0cdc755d619e68a969a9e86a7543c2bb62ee6fb4b5ce34d0328c7c744eff4b; retrieved 2026-09-18T19:55:34.414Z.