FTW96LA344 · Cessna TR182
Cessna TR182 · Accident: in flight collision with object while maneuvering
From McAllen Miller International Airport (MFE) to Aero Country Airport (T31)
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW96LA344
- 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
- 2 · 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
- General aviation
- 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
Cessna TR182
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 182
- 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
- N6316T
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From McAllen Miller International Airport (MFE), McAllen, TXTo Aero Country Airport (T31), TX
- 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
- Maneuvering
- 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
- In flight collision with object
- 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
- Pilot in command › Clearance, not maintained
- Pilot in command › Impairment(alcohol)
- Pilot in command › Impairment(drugs)
- Pilot in command › Judgment, poor
- Pilot in command › Low altitude flight/maneuver, intentional
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
The airplane was observed to pass from north to south under the Queen Isabel Causeway Bridge, which spanned between Port Isabel & South Padre Island, TX. After a 180 degree turn, it approached the bridge from south for another pass. However, during this pass, it struck a concrete bridge pylon & column, then descended uncontrolled into the water. No preimpact mechanical problem was found. The airplane's last annual inspection was dated 7/27/95. Neither of the pilot-rated occupants held a valid FAA medical certificate. Toxicology testing of the right seat occupant's blood revealed 0.006 mcg/ml tetrahydrocannabinol (active substance in marijuana), 0.006 mcg/ml tetrahydrocannabinol carboxylic acid (inactive metabolite of the active substance in marijuana), 0.087 mcg/ml cocaine, 1.809 mcg/ml benzoylecgonine (inactive metabolite of cocaine), and 0.095 mcg/ml diphenhydramine (a sedating over-the-counter antihistamine). Toxicology testing of the left seat occupant revealed cocaethylene (a substance formed when cocaine and alcohol are ingested at around the same time) in the liver fluid; 65 mg/dl ethanol in the vitreous fluid; and 143 mg/dl ethanol, 0.133 mcg/ml cocaine, and 0.066 mcg/ml benzoylecgonine in the blood.
Probable cause
pilot impairment of judgment and performance due to alcohol and drugs, and failure of the pilot(s) to maintain obstacle clearance, during an intentional low altitude flight manueuver (low pass under a bridge).
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW96LA344
- Event ID
- 20001208X06497
- Case number
- FTW96LA344
- 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: 80e59cbb01ef23dff7b96ea34dd071524d35204b9d81fe01961baae849c346d9; retrieved 2026-09-20T23:13:38.174Z.