Accidents: the NTSB record

2011 — 2023

The field's fatal record is two general-aviation accidents, and both are printed whole: On 4 April 2011 a rented Cirrus SR22, in from Chicago Executive Airport, caught a gust on approach, struck its left wing, and cartwheeled 250 feet from the runway; the pilot, the sole occupant, died of his injuries (NTSB CEN11FA267). On 17 March 2013 a Hawker Beechcraft Premier IA business jet, N26DK, in from Tulsa, lost both engines during cruise descent; the National Transportation Safety Board's probable cause reads: "the private pilot's inadequate response to the dual engine shutdown during cruise descent, including his failure to adhere to procedures, which ultimately resulted in his failure to maintain airplane control during a single-engine go-around." The jet collided with three houses south of the airport after the aborted landing on runway 9R.

Two people died — the pilot and the pilot-rated passenger, former University of Oklahoma quarterback Steve Davis — and three were seriously injured, two passengers in the cabin and one person on the ground (NTSB CEN13FA196). The non-fatal record in the sources reached runs: 12 September 2017, a Beech N35 Bonanza out of fuel made a forced landing in a ditch short of the perimeter fence, no injuries, the aircraft a total loss; 25 May 2018, SkyWest Flight 4647, just departed for Atlanta as Delta Connection, returned after a halon fire-extinguisher bottle exploded in the cargo bin, no injuries; 15 May 2023, a SkyWest flight returned after a mechanical failure shortly after takeoff, burned fuel, and landed, no injuries reported. One exclusion is printed deliberately: American Eagle Flight 4127, the ATR 72 that lost a cabin door on 9 July 1995, was a Chicago O'Hare departure that appears in the airport's incident lists by association only; it is not a South Bend accident and is not counted as one. No fatal accident involving a scheduled airline flight at this field appears in the record reached.

Sources:

1. National Transportation Safety Board — CEN13FA196 (17 March 2013, Hawker Beechcraft 390 Premier IA, N26DK; probable cause as quoted; two fatal, three serious) and CEN11FA267 (4 April 2011, Cirrus SR22; one fatal).
2. Aviation Safety Network (12 September 2017 Bonanza forced landing); WNDU (25 May 2018, SkyWest Flight 4647 halon bottle return; 15 May 2023, SkyWest mechanical return).