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FTW90FA063 · Cessna 172M

4 Feb 1990 · Tomball, TX, United States

National Aviation Services Cessna 172M and Cessna 150M · Accident: midair collision on approach

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Event

NTSB case
FTW90FA063
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

Aircraft 1 · Cessna 172M

Aircraft type
Cessna 172
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
N128S
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport (DWH)To not recorded
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
Approach · VFR pattern final
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
Midair collision
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Destroyed

Aircraft 2 · Cessna 150M

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
N714RS
Operator
Unknown
Onboard fatalities
Unknown
Route
From David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport (DWH)To David Wayne Hooks Memorial Airport (DWH)
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
Approach · VFR pattern final
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
Midair collision
DamageDestroyed: beyond practical repair. Substantial: damage that affects the structure, performance or handling and normally needs major repair. Minor: less than that. Glossary
Minor

Cause areas

  • Pilot in command › Atc clearance, not followed
  • Pilot in command › Visual lookout, inadequate
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Atc clearance, not followed
  • Pilot of other aircraft › Visual lookout, inadequate

Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.

NTSB narrative

AT TIME OF HVY TFC, CESSNA 150 PLT (C150, N714RS) CTCD TWR & WAS TOLD TO RPRT ON 3 MI L BASE FOR RWY 35L. INSTEAD, HE RPRTD ON L DWNWND FOR 35L & WAS TOLD TO FLW CESSNA (N9DZ), AHD OF HIM ON DWNWND. AT 1335:00 (35 SEC LTR), CESSNA 172 PLT (C172, N128S, ON A STRAIGHT-IN-APCH) RPRTD 3 MI FINAL FOR RWY 35L; HE WAS TOLD TO FLW 'CESSNA (N9DZ) TURNING LEFT BASE IN FRONT OF YOU.' AT 1335:27, C150 PLT WAS TOLD TO FLW CESSNA (C172) ON 1-1/2 MI FINAL; C150 PLT ACKNOWLEDGED. AT 1336:29, C172 WAS CLRD TO LND (BHND N9DZ). AS C150 TURNED ON FINAL, IT CONVERGED WITH C172. TWR CTLR NOTED CONFLICT & ASKED C150 PLT IF HE COULD SIDE STEP TO RWY 35R; C150 PLT GAVE NEGATIVE REPLY, THEN WAS TOLD TO GO ARND, (NO SPECIFIC SAFETY ADZY WAS ISSUED). ABT 8 SEC LTR, THE 2 ACFT COLLIDED ABT 100' OVR RWY THRESHOLD WITH C150'S PROP SEVERING TAIL OF C172. C172 CRASHED ON RWY; C150 LNDD WITH MINOR DMG. TOX CHECK OF C172 PLT'S BLOOD INDCD 118 NG/ML OF DELTA-9-TETRA- HYDROCANNABINOL CARBOXYLIC ACID; HIS URINE HAD 1.0 MG/L OF 11-NOR-DELTA-9-TETRAHYDROCANNOBINOL-9-CARBOXYLIC ACID.

Probable cause

FAILURE OF THE PILOT IN CESSNA 150, N714RS, TO COMPLY WITH THE AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL CLEARANCE, AND FAILURE OF BOTH PILOTS TO MAINTAIN ADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT TO SEE-AND-AVOID EACH OTHER. FACTORS RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WERE: PHYSICAL IMPAIRMENT OF THE PILOT IN THE CESSNA 172, N128S, DUE TO USE OF DRUGS (CANNABINOIDS), AND FAILURE OF THE TOWER CONTROLLER TO ISSUE A SAFETY ADVISORY.

Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset

Sources

NTSB record FTW90FA063
Event ID
20001212X22560
Case number
FTW90FA063
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: 53ad80fe0c6d3b67fb9d090befe822986049124ba329d1439f80a817d193dcb3; retrieved 2026-09-21T02:59:00.506Z.