Date:	Tuesday 7 August 1990
Time:
Type:	Northrop T-38A Talon
Owner/operator:	United States Air Force - USAF
Registration:	64-13273
MSN:
Fatalities:	Fatalities: 0 / Occupants: 2
Other fatalities:	0
Aircraft damage:	Destroyed
Category:	Accident
Location:	San Antonio, TX -   United States of America
Phase:	Approach
Nature:	Military
Departure airport:
Destination airport:
Investigating agency:	NTSB

Narrative:
USAF T-38 & A CESSNA 172 COLLIDED AT 4200' MSL. DRG IMPACT, THE VERTICAL STABILIZER OF THE T-38 STRUCK THE RGT SIDE OF THE 172'S ENG. THE ENG SEPD & THE 172 PLTS LNDD ON A ROAD. THE T-38 DSCNDD OUT OF CTL, BUT THE T-38 PLTS EJECTED SAFELY. BFR IMPACT, THE STUDENT IN THE 172 (WITH A VISION RESTRICTING DEVICE) & HIS INSTRUCTOR (CFI) WERE PRACTICING AIR WORK MNVRS. THE TANDEM SEAT T-38A (WITH AN INSTRUCTOR PLT IN THE BACK SEAT & A RATED PLT IN THE FNT SEAT) WERE BEING VECTORED FOR AN ILS RWY 33 APCH TO KELLY AFB. THE T-38'S SPD WAS ABOUT 330 KTS; THE SPD LIMITATION OF 250 KTS HAD BEEN WAIVED FOR T-38 ACFT, DUE TO THE ACFT'S LACK OF CONTROLLABILITY AT THE LOWER SPD. THE 172 WAS EQUIPPED WITH A TRANSPONDER, BUT IT WAS NOT EQUIPPED WITH MODE C. THE T-38 WAS EQUIPPED WITH A MODE C TRANSPONDER. BOTH ACFT WERE IN RADIO CTC WITH THE SAN ANTONIO SOUTH DEP CTLR, BUT ABT 3 MIN BFR THE COLLISION, RADAR SVC WITH THE 172 HAD BEEN TRMTD.

The National Transportation Safety Board determines the probable cause(s) of this accident to be:
INADEQUATE VISUAL LOOKOUT BY BOTH PILOTS IN THE T-38 AND BY THE INSTRUCTOR PILOT (CFI) IN THE CESSNA 172.

Scramble
Flight International 8-14 May 1991
http://web.archive.org/web/20171126074757/http://www.ejection-history.org.uk:80/Aircraft_by_Type/t_38_talon.htm
https://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001212X23999&key=2
https://www.ntsb.gov/aviationquery/brief.aspx?ev_id=20001212X23999&key=1

Date/time	Contributor	Updates
23-May-2009 12:52	harro	Updated
06-Sep-2014 15:49	Aerossurance	Updated [Date, Total fatalities, Total occupants, Other fatalities, Phase, Source, Narrative, ]
25-Apr-2015 18:41	TB	Updated [Operator, Narrative, ]