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FTW90LA121

1990-06-20 · FABENS, Texas, United States · None · 1 aircraft · Status: Completed

Airport E35

Aircraft involved

Probable cause & findings

INADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT BY THE PILOTS OF BOTH AIRCRAFT, WHICH RESULTED IN A FAILURE OF EACH PILOT TO SEE-AND-AVOID THE OTHER AIRCRAFT. A FACTOR RELATED TO THE ACCIDENT WAS: FAILURE OF THE RYAN ST-3KR PILOT TO MAKE TRAFFIC ADVIZORIES WHILE ENTERING THE TRAFFIC PATTERN AND APPROACHING TO LAND.

Factual narrative

FOUR ACFT DEPD CARLSBAD, NM, ON A FLT TO FABENS, TX. THE 1ST OF THE 4 ACFT TO ENTER THE TFC PATTERN AT FABENS WAS CESSNA 140, N76728. IT ENTERED THE PATTERN BEHIND A HIGH WING CESSNA (BORDER PATROL ACFT) THAT LANDED ON RWY 26. HOWEVER, SINCE THE WIND FAVORED RWY 8, THE 140 PLT 'PASSED OVER 26,' ENTERED A DOWNWIND FOR RWY 8 & ANNOUNCED HIS INTENTIONS ON THE UNICOM FREQ. WHEN THE BORDER PATROL ACFT CLRD RWY 26, THE 140 PLT CONTD HIS APCH TO LND ON RWY 8. HE ASSUMED THE PLTS OF THE OTHER 3 ACFT OF THE FLT WOULD FOLLOW HIM. THE 2ND ACFT OF THE FLT WAS A RYAN ST-3KR, N48743. THE RYAN PLT SAW THE HIGH WING CESSNA (BORDER PATROL ACFT) CLR RWY 26 & ELECTED TO LAND ON THAT RWY. SUBSEQUENTLY, THE CESSNA 140 & RYAN ST-3KR CONVERGED WHILE LANDING FROM OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS. THE CESSNA 140 PLT SAW THE RYAN ST-3KR JUST BEFORE IMPACT, BUT NOT IN TIME TO AVOID A COLLISION. Source: NTSB Aviation Accident Database (Pre-2008 Archive) Retrieved: 2026-02-12

Verbatim from NTSB's published report. Source file NTSB_1990_FTW90LA121.txt. Findings + structured fields enriched from FAA avall.mdb. Full investigation docket on data.ntsb.gov ↗.

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