NTSB Report on Gulfstream G600 Incident at Birmingham Airport

The NTSB released its final report July 31 on a hard landing that damaged a business jet at Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Alabama. The May 27 incident happened around 1:08 p.m. during heavy rain, and none of the 14 people aboard suffered injuries.

The aircraft, a Gulfstream G600, carried two crew members and 12 passengers. It had arrived after a transcontinental flight from Ireland.

The right wing sustained substantial damage. The airplane remained under investigation until the agency issued its final findings.

The report attributed the incident to the flight crew’s decision to continue the landing approach in adverse weather. That decision led to a loss of visual reference and a loss of airplane control during landing, the agency said.

Rain reduced the crew’s ability to see external visual cues during the approach. The loss of those references preceded the hard landing, according to the report’s probable-cause finding.

The report puts the weather decision at the center of the incident

The final report identifies the crew’s approach decision, rather than a mechanical failure, as the probable cause described in the findings. It does not change the reported outcome: substantial damage to the right wing, but no injuries among the crew or passengers.

The flight was approaching BHM on Wednesday afternoon, May 27, 2026. The landing occurred at approximately 1:08 p.m., while heavy rain affected conditions at the airport.

The report’s wording connects the continuation of the approach with two immediate problems: the crew lost visual reference, then lost control of the airplane during landing. Those findings describe the sequence the agency used to establish probable cause.

No passenger or crew medical response appears in the reported outcome. The aircraft damage, however, met the report’s description of substantial damage, and the right wing was the affected area identified in the findings.

The incident is separate from Birmingham’s 2013 UPS crash

The event occurred at the same airport as the deadly UPS Flight 1354 crash on August 14, 2013. That earlier accident involved an Airbus A300-600 approaching runway 18.

A separate final report found that the UPS crew continued an unstabilized approach and failed to monitor altitude. The airplane descended below the minimum approach altitude before striking terrain, according to the earlier agency investigation.

The 2026 business-jet incident had a different outcome. The report describes substantial aircraft damage and no injuries, while the 2013 crash resulted in a fatal accident.

The older investigation remains relevant only as airport history. The new report concerns the May 27 landing, its weather conditions and the crew’s decision to continue the approach.

The final findings now establish the official account

The agency’s July 31 publication gives the incident an official probable-cause finding. It places the key decision during the approach, when the crew continued toward landing despite adverse weather.

The flight’s passenger count and crew complement also clarify the scale of the event: 12 passengers and two crew members were aboard. All were reported uninjured after the hard landing.

The report leaves the right wing as the principal documented damage. It does not describe a broader injury event or a fatality.

The final account therefore turns on a narrow chain of events: a transcontinental arrival from Ireland, heavy rain during the approach, lost visual reference, loss of control during landing and substantial right-wing damage. The agency released that account on July 31, 2026.