FTW93FA017 · Cessna 150L
W. J. Bonefas Cessna 150L · Accident: in flight collision with object while maneuvering
From Chandler Ranch Airport (3TA1) to 3TA1
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW93FA017
- 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
- 1 · 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 150L
- Aircraft type
- Cessna 150
- 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
- N10736
- Operator
- W. J. Bonefas
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Chandler Ranch Airport (3TA1), Manvel, TXTo 3TA1
- 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
- Also codedOther events the NTSB coded in the sequence, such as a wire strike after a loss of power. Flight Findings uses them for its kinds of event. Glossary
- Tower (marked); Guy wire
- 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
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE STUDENT HAD BEEN RELEASED TO OVERFLY AN AIRPORT APPROXIMATELY EIGHT MILES TO THE SOUTH AND RETURN FOR LANDING. HE WAS INSTRUCTED TO MAINTAIN 1,000' MSL FOR THE FLIGHT. THE STUDENT PILOT DEPARTED THE TRAFFIC PATTERN APPROXIMATELY 40 MINUTES BEFORE SUNSET. THE AIRPLANE IMPACTED A TELEVISION TOWER. A WITNESS REPORTED THE AIRPLANE LIGHTS WERE NOT ON AS THE AIRPLANE FLEW OVER HIS HOUSE. PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT THE STUDENT BECAME DISORIENTED. HE REPORTED TO HIS INSTRUCTOR PILOT, OVER THE RADIO, TAHT HE COULD SEE THE TOWER. HE WAS TOLD TO FLY NORTH BY THE INSTRUCTOR, THE STUDENT RESPONDED HE WAS HAVING DIFFICULTY SEEING HIS INSTRUMENTS. THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT INSTRUCTED HIM TO TURN ON HIS INSTRUMENT LIGHTS, THE STUDENTS RESPONSE WAS HE COULD NOT FIND THE SWITCH FOR THE INSTRUMENT PANEL LIGHTING. RADIO COMMUNICATION WAS LOST WITH THE STUDENT WHILE THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT WAS TRYING TO DIRECT HIM TO THE SWITCH.
Probable cause
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN CLEARANCE WITH THE OBSTRUCTION. FACTORS WERE: THE PILOT'S LACK OF TOTAL EXPERIENCE IN NIGHT OPERATIONS, AND INADEQUATE SUPERVISION FROM THE CERTIFIED FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW93FA017
- Event ID
- 20001211X15860
- Case number
- FTW93FA017
- 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: local date, investigation status. Values present in the bulk record are kept.
- The date is the local date; the NTSB stores the UTC date 1992-10-19.
- API snapshot SHA-256: e4e8470911242544c0019d5a5c82eab474243e7755a7c0c70484a368f464d8a8; retrieved 2026-09-21T00:51:13.951Z.