- Date
- October 22, 1987, 18:59 local (23:59 UTC)
- Place
- Lancaster, TX
- Injuries
- 1 uninjured
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Phase of flight
- Landing
- Aircraft
- N17176Cessna 150L
- Weather
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Status
- Completed · report May 1, 1989
- Report
- Approved by Office Director
- FAA report
- 19871022060299A
- Case key
- 22585
From the NTSB’s public API. By law, NTSB reports can’t be used as evidence in lawsuits over the accident.
On this page
Sequence of events
NTSB’s coding before 2008: each occurrence and phase of flight, and the causes and factors under it. The codes are defined in NTSB’s coding manual.
Analysis
While rtrng fm a x-country, the student bcm disoriented & reqd assistance. Redbird twr ctlr adzd dallas-ft worth TRACON that the plt was lost & needed a beacon identification. A few min later, the acft's location was determined & the ctlr at redbird relayed a vector for the plt to fly to redbird. Later, the plt adzd his fuel level was getting low. He was given a freq to talk to TRACON directly. Communications were weak & other considerations prompted the TRACON ctlr to vector the plt to Lancaster. After the plt fnd the arpt, radar svc was terminated. Bfr lndg, the plt saw an x on the rwy (indcg it was closed), so he aborted the apch & circled the arpt. In dusk conds, he saw a light colored area beside the closed rwy which appeared to be a new rwy & elected to lnd; however, this was an area of construction with soft dirt. Drg the lndg, the acft nosed over. When the TRACON ctlr contacted redbird twr to adz the plt had diverted, he was reminded that Lancaster arpt was notamed as closed with hvy work on the rwy.
Aircraft
- Registration
- N17176
- Reported as
- Cessna 150L
- Category
- Airplane
- Serial number
- 15073649
- Airframe hours
- 2,087
- Engine
- Continental O-200-A, 100 horsepower, reciprocating
- Damage
- Substantial damage
- Flight
- Instructional · Part 91
- Registered owner
- Virgil Aircraft Co
- Airworthiness certificate
- Standard, Utility
- Last inspection
- 100 hour · June 1, 1987 · 37 hours before
- Departed
- ABL · Abilene, TX
- Destination
- Dallas-Ft Worth, TX
- Flight plan
- VFR
- Airport
- LNC · Lancaster, runway 31, 3,700 × 50 ft, dirt
Matched to the registry by N-number and the event date; the registry’s history has gaps, so older matches can be wrong. Compare the reported make and model.
Flight crew
As NTSB recorded them. NTSB leaves out names.
- Role
- Pilot
- Age
- 19
- Certificate
- Student
- Airplane ratings
- Single-engine land
- Medical
- Class 3, Valid Medical--w/ waivers/lim
- Seat
- Left
- Flight hours
- 29 total · 29 in this make and model · 10 as pilot in command · 29 in the last 90 days
Weather
- Conditions
- Visual (VMC) · Dusk
- Wind
- Calm
- Visibility
- 15 statute miles
- Lowest ceiling
- None
- Temperature
- 72 °F, dew point 48 °F
FAA reports on this event · 1
The FAA’s own accident and incident reports, matched to the aircraft by N-number and date.