SkyWest Airlines Flight 1834

1987 mid-air collision

SkyWest Airlines Flight 1834
Accident
Date	January 15, 1987
Summary	Mid-air collision
Site	Kearns, Utah, U.S. 40°39′20″N 112°0′0″W / 40.65556°N 112.00000°W / 40.65556; -112.00000
Total fatalities	10
Total survivors	0
First aircraft
N163SW, the Skywest SA226TC Metro II involved in the accident, in June 1980
Type	Swearingen SA226-TC Metro II
Operator	SkyWest Airlines
ICAO flight No.	SKW834
Call sign	SKYWEST 834
Registration	N163SW
Flight origin	Pocatello Regional Airport, Idaho
Destination	Salt Lake City International Airport, Utah
Occupants	8
Passengers	6
Crew	2
Fatalities	8
Survivors	0
Second aircraft
A Mooney M20C similar to accident aircraft
Type	Mooney M20
Operator	private
Registration	N6485U
Flight origin	South Valley Regional Airport, West Jordan, Utah
Occupants	2
Passengers	0
Crew	2
Fatalities	2
Survivors	0

On Thursday, January 15, 1987, SkyWest Airlines Flight 1834, a Swearingen SA-226TC (METRO II), and a Mooney M20 were involved in a midair collision at 12:52 MST (UTC −7) near Kearns, Utah, a suburb southwest of Salt Lake City. All ten aboard the two aircraft were killed: two pilots and six passengers aboard the METRO II and two aboard the Mooney.

National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigators primarily blamed the small plane pilots for wandering into restricted airspace, but a judge later assigned 51% responsibility to FAA air traffic controllers.

Collision

The SkyWest Airlines aircraft, which was 30 minutes late from Pocatello, Idaho, was on final approach to Runway 34 of Salt Lake City International Airport, piloted by Captain Michael Gambill and First Officer Walter Ray. The Mooney M20 took off from Salt Lake City Municipal Airport II (now South Valley Regional Airport) in West Jordan, piloted by flight instructor Paul Lietz and his student, Chester Baker, the plane's owner.

The air traffic controller watching the area failed to recognize the danger when the Mooney pilots wandered into restricted airspace. The controller did not notice the small plane on the radar and directed the SkyWest pilots to turn. Making that turn, the SkyWest plane collided with the Mooney. The collision was at an approximate altitude of 7,000 feet (2,100 m) above sea level, about a half-mile (800 m) above ground level.

Residents below the collision reported a "big boom," and then, "parts were flying everywhere". The main section of the SkyWest aircraft slid through a chain-link fence, stopping in the middle of a suburban street. Wreckage scattered over a one-mile-square area, with body parts hanging from trees. Authorities had to open a temporary morgue at a nearby church as they recovered the victims.

Investigation

The NTSB investigation ultimately blamed the Mooney M20 instructor pilot for straying into the Salt Lake City airport radar service area. The investigation also criticized the lack of a Mode-C transponder and the limitations of air traffic control collision protection.

In late 1990, U.S. district judge Thomas Greene ruled FAA air traffic controllers were 51% responsible for the crash and the Mooney pilots were 49% at fault.

References

"FAA Registry (N163SW)". Federal Aviation Administration.
"FAA Registry (N6485U)". Federal Aviation Administration.
^ Finch, Mary (January 15, 1987). "Midair collision rains debris over Kearns". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. A1.
"Planes collide in midair; 10 die". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Los Angeles Times). January 16, 1987. p. 1A.
Sullivan, Laurie (January 16, 1987). "10 die in midair crash near Salt Lake airport". Lewiston Morning Tribune. (Idaho). Associated Press. p. 1A.
^ "Smaller plane drifted into the flightpath of SkyWest commuter, air officials say". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). January 16, 1987. p. A1.
Fidel, Steve (January 17, 1987). "Teams are formed to find cause of crash". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. B1.
Funk, Marianne (October 15, 1990). "ATTORNEYS PLAY TAPE OF KEARNS AIR CRASH AT TRIAL". Deseret News. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
Witkin, Richard (January 16, 1987). "2 Airplanes Collide Over Utah; 10 Reported Killed". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved October 8, 2019.
Fidel, Steve; Israelson, Brent (January 16, 1987). "Top priority at the school was to keep children from colliding with the tragedy". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. A3.
"Aircraft Accident Report--Midair Collision of Skywest Airlines Swearingen Metro II, N163SW and Mooney M20, N6485U, Kearns, Utah, January 15,1987" (PDF). National Transportation Safety Board. March 15, 1988. NTSB/AAR-88103. - Copy at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
White, Gordon Eliot; Jacobsen-Wells, JoAnn (March 15, 1988). "Utah pilot blamed for '87 tragedy". Deseret News. (Salt Lake City, Utah). p. A1.
Funk, Marianne (December 27, 1990). "Settlements diverge in Kearns air crash". Deseret News. p. B1. Retrieved October 8, 2019.

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in 1987 (1987)
Jan 3 Varig Flight 797Jan 15 SkyWest Airlines Flight 1834Jan 16 Aeroflot Flight U-505Mar 4 Northwest Airlink Flight 2268Apr 4 Garuda Indonesia Flight 035May 8 American Eagle Flight 5452May 9 LOT Flight 5055May 19 Air New Zealand Flight 24Jun 11 Bakhtar Afghan Airlines Antonov An-26 shootdownJun 19 Aeroflot Flight N-528Jun 26 Philippine Airlines Flight 206Jul 24 Air Afrique Flight 056Jul 30 Mexico City Boeing C-97 crashAug 16 Northwest Airlines Flight 255Aug 31 Thai Airways Flight 365Oct 11 Burma Airways Fokker F27 crashOct 15 Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460Oct 20 Ramada Inn Corsair crashNov 15 Continental Airlines Flight 1713Nov 28 South African Airways Flight 295Nov 29 Korean Air Flight 858Dec 7 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771Dec 8 Alianza Lima disasterDec 13 Philippine Airlines Flight 443Dec 21 Air Littoral Flight 1919Dec 23 Finnair Flight 915
1986 ◄ ► 1988

Aviation accidents and incidents in 1987 (1987)

Jan 3 Varig Flight 797Jan 15 SkyWest Airlines Flight 1834Jan 16 Aeroflot Flight U-505Mar 4 Northwest Airlink Flight 2268Apr 4 Garuda Indonesia Flight 035May 8 American Eagle Flight 5452May 9 LOT Flight 5055May 19 Air New Zealand Flight 24Jun 11 Bakhtar Afghan Airlines Antonov An-26 shootdownJun 19 Aeroflot Flight N-528Jun 26 Philippine Airlines Flight 206Jul 24 Air Afrique Flight 056Jul 30 Mexico City Boeing C-97 crashAug 16 Northwest Airlines Flight 255Aug 31 Thai Airways Flight 365Oct 11 Burma Airways Fokker F27 crashOct 15 Aero Trasporti Italiani Flight 460Oct 20 Ramada Inn Corsair crashNov 15 Continental Airlines Flight 1713Nov 28 South African Airways Flight 295Nov 29 Korean Air Flight 858Dec 7 Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771Dec 8 Alianza Lima disasterDec 13 Philippine Airlines Flight 443Dec 21 Air Littoral Flight 1919Dec 23 Finnair Flight 915

1986 ◄ ► 1988

v t e Aviation accidents and incidents in the United States and U.S. territories in the 1980s
1980	Air Wisconsin Flight 965 (June 1980)
1981	Eastern Air Lines Flight 935 (September 1981)
1982	Air Florida Flight 90 (January 13 1982) Thunderbirds Indian Springs Diamond Crash (January 18 1982) World Airways Flight 30 (January 23 1982) Pilgrim Airlines Flight 458 (February 1982) Pan Am Flight 759 (July 9 1982) Twilight Zone accident (July 23 1982) Pan Am Flight 830 (August 1982)
1983	United Airlines Flight 2885 (January 1983) Eastern Air Lines Flight 855 (May 1983) Air Canada Flight 797 (June 2 1983) Reeve Aleutian Airways Flight 8 (June 8 1983) Air Illinois Flight 710 (October 1983) Ozark Air Lines Flight 650 (December 20 1983) Anchorage runway collision (December 23 1983)
1984	Scandinavian Airlines System Flight 901 (February 1984) Vieques Air Link Flight 901A (August 2 1984)* San Luis Obispo mid-air collision (August 24 1984) Provincetown-Boston Airlines Flight 1039 (December 1984)
1985	Galaxy Airlines Flight 203 (January 1985) China Airlines Flight 006 (February 1985) Delta Air Lines Flight 191 (August 2 1985) Bar Harbor Airlines Flight 1808 (August 25 1985) Midwest Express Airlines Flight 105 (September 6 1985) Henson Airlines Flight 1517 (September 23 1985) Teterboro mid-air collision (November 1985) Death of Ricky Nelson (December 1985)
1986	Grand Canyon mid-air collision (June 1986) Aeroméxico Flight 498 (August 1986) Japan Air Lines Cargo Flight 1628 incident (November 1986)
1987	SkyWest Airlines Flight 1834 (January 1987) Northwest Airlink Flight 2268 (March 1987) American Eagle Flight 5452 (May 1987)* Northwest Airlines Flight 255 (August 1987) Indianapolis Ramada Inn A-7D Corsair II crash (October 1987) Continental Airlines Flight 1713 (November 1987) Pacific Southwest Airlines Flight 1771 (December 1987)
1988	Trans-Colorado Airlines Flight 2286 (January 1988) American Airlines Flight 132 (February 3 1988) AVAir Flight 3378 (February 19 1988) Aloha Airlines Flight 243 (April 1988) TACA Flight 110 (May 1988) Delta Air Lines Flight 1141 (August 1988)
1989	United Airlines Flight 811 (February 1989) Evergreen International Airlines Flight 17 (March 1989) United Airlines Flight 232 (July 1989) USAir Flight 5050 (September 1989) KLM Flight 867 (December 15 1989) United Express Flight 2415 (December 26 1989)
This list is incomplete. An asterisk (*) denotes an incident that took place in a U.S. territory. 1970–1979 ◄ 1980–1989 ► 1990–1999

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