FTW89DRG09 · McCormick BUSHBY MUSTANG II BUSHBY MUS
McCormick BUSHBY MUSTANG II BUSHBY MUS · Incident: in flight collision with object while maneuvering
From Austin Air Ranch Airport (88R) to an unrecorded destination
Narrative check · The NTSB narrative appears to contradict this record's injuries. Values are shown as recorded, not corrected; compare with the narrative.
Event
- NTSB case
- FTW89DRG09
- 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
- Incident
- 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
- 0 · 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
McCormick BUSHBY MUSTANG II BUSHBY MUS
- Aircraft type
- Mccormick BUSHBY MUSTANG
- 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
- N123WP
- Operator
- Unknown
- Onboard fatalities
- Unknown
- Route
- From Austin Air Ranch Airport (88R), SPICEWOOD, TXTo 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
- 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
- None
Cause areas
- Pilot in command › Clearance, not maintained
Approximate · Coordinates as recorded by the NTSB; no uncertainty radius is established.
NTSB narrative
THE FEMALE VICTIM WAS RIDING A GALLUPING HORSE ADJACENT AND PARALLEL TO THE RUNWAY AS THE PILOT WAS PERFORMING A SERIES OF TAKE OFFS, LANDINGS, AND TOUCH AND GOES. THIS HAD BEEN ARRANGED BY THE VICTIM FOR A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER TO TAKE PICTURES OF HER, AS SHE AND HER HORSE WERE PASSED BY THE AIRPLANE OVERTAKING HER FROM BEHIND. THE HORSE AND RIDER WERE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE RUNWAY, BETWEEN THE PHOTOGRAPHER AND THE RUNWAY. A WITNESS REPORTED THAT ON THE SIXTH OR SEVENTH PASS, A 'POPPING SOUND' WAS HEARD AS THE AIRPLANE PASSED. HE 'ASSUMED' THAT INDICATED CONTACT BETWEEN THE AIRPLANE WING AND THE VICTIM'S HEAD. HE ALSO OBSERVED THE RIDER, WHO 'APPEARED TO BE UNCONSCIOUS' FALL OFF OF THE HORSE AS IT CONTINUED TO RUN. THE AIRPORT MANAGER DID NOT SEE THE MISHAP, BUT HEARD A 'LOUD THUMP.' THE PHOTOGRAPHER'S WRITTEN AFFIDAVIT STATED IN PART THAT THE AIRPLANE 'VEERED OFF COURSE AND STRUCK JAMIE WHICH IN THE BACK OF THE HEAD.'
Probable cause
THE PILOT'S FAILURE TO MAINTAIN PROPER CLEARANCE FROM PERSONNEL ON THE GROUND.
Verbatim NTSB analysis and probable cause from the NTSB dataset
Sources
NTSB record FTW89DRG09
- Event ID
- 20001213X29115
- Case number
- FTW89DRG09
- 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, damage. 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: b2431751a8a18bd09aaed4fcabe3ab366258f136a0e02983e2a6f1cb525caae6; retrieved 2026-09-23T07:15:55.249Z.