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FTW89FA024

1988-11-24 · WEATHERFORD, Texas, United States · Fatal · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

N5337S has since been reassigned. It is now registered to a different aircraft (PIPER PA-28-181, built 2001), which was not involved in this event.

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

THE PILOT FAILED TO MAINTAIN MINIMUM REQUIRED AIRSPEED FOR SLOW FLIGHT (VS), RESULTING IN A STALL WITH INSUFFICIENT ALTITUDE TO RECOVER. A CONTRIBUTING FACTOR WAS THE PIPER PILOT'S UNANNOUNCED FLY-BY, WHICH DIVERTED THE CESSNA PILOT'S ATTENTION.

Factual narrative

THE PILOT WAS DESCENDING HIS AIRPLANE WHILE IN SLOW FLIGHT WITH 10 DEGREES FLAPS IN A DOWNWIND TRACK TO LOOK AT PROPERTY THAT HE PLANNED TO PURCHASE. A SECOND AIRPLANE FLEW BY HIS AIRPLANE AT THE LOW ALTITUDE AND BANKED AWAY SHARPLY. THE ACCIDENT AIRPLANE'S WINGS WOBBLED, THE NOSE DROPPED AND IT IMPACTED INTO AN OPEN WHEAT FIELD. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1988_FTW89FA024.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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Related research

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