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BFO88FA034

1988-04-05 · MANASSAS, Virginia, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport W10

Aircraft involved

Factual narrative

THE PILOT HAD DEPARTED WAYCROSS, GA, ON THE MORNING OF THE ACCIDENT FOR A CROSS COUNTRY FLIGHT TO MANASSAS, VA. DURING THE APPROACH INTO MANASSAS, THE AIRCRAFT CONTACTED TREES OFF THE APPROACH ENDS OF RWYS 34L AND 34R. BOTH RWYS WERE IN USE AT THE TIME AND IT IS UNKNOWN WHICH THE PILOT WAS ATTEMPTING TO LAND ON. THE AIRCRAFT STALLED INTO AN OPEN FIELD SHORT OF THE AIRPORT BETWEEN THE EXTENDED CENTERLINES OF THE RUNWAYS. NO EVIDENCE OF MECHANICAL FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION OF THE AIRPLANE OR THE ENGINE WAS FOUND. THE VASI LIGHTS HAD BEEN OUT OF SERVICE FOR AT LEAST ONE YEAR PRIOR TO THE ACCIDENT. THE APPROACHES TO RUNWAYS 34L AND 34R WERE DESCRIBED BY PILOTS FAMILIAR WITH THE AIRPORT AS BEING LIKE A 'BLACK HOLE' DUE TO THE LACK OF VISUAL REFERENCES OVER THE TREES AND FIELD. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_BFO88FA034.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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